Ex Libris Chronicle: The International Collector

Australian Personal Bookplates: A Review by Richard H. Schimmelpfeng ( Part I)

2010-04-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

Australian Personal Bookplates: A Review

By

Richard H. Schimmelpfeng

Mr. Peake’s work is a very welcome addition to bookplate literature in general and for Australia in particular. Primarily an alphabetical register of Australian personal bookplates, including ex libris for expatriate Australians and people who resided in Australia for a period of time, it does not include plates made by Australian artists for people living overseas (though it is very difficult to determine from the plate whether the individual resided in Australia for a period of time). The text gives background on bookplate activity in Australia, brief biographical information on major Australian bookplate artists, and institutional collections.

Australian Personal Bookplates: A Review by Richard H. Schimmelpfeng (Part II)

2010-04-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Entries in the register contain owner’s name, platename (owner’s name transcribed), subject description, artist’s name, technique, reference (where plate can be seen, either institution or a published source), date of execution, size of plate, and number in the checklist. There is a total of 5,736 plates listed, with an addendum bringing the total to 5,746. A two page bibliography shortlists literature sources primarily published in Australia. Reference is made to Mark J. Ferson’s bibliography published in 1988 which contains more extensive information. The index is by artists, keyed to the individual entries.

The work is published in two editions: a regular one of 350 copies and the De Luxe of 55 copies which contains 28 tipped-in original plates. The volume is well designed, very legible, and printed on excellent paper. This is an important new reference work and a most valuable addition to any serious bookplate collector’s library.

For further details, please contact the ASBC&D: exlibrisusa@hotmail.com

Armorial Ex Libris I

2010-03-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

Armorial Ex Libris

By

Lars C. Stolt

Heraldry is closely related to ex libris as the great bibliophiles during 17th-19th centuries often were armigerous and of course wished to show their coats of arms instead of or combined with their full names or family names in their books. Consequently, many of the earlier ex libris are armorial, and also several ex libris of today depict the coat of arms of the owner. This means that bookplates are one of the best series of examples of personal coats of arms and a source for heraldic studies. An example of that is that many of the pictures of the family coats of arms in Arthur Charles Fox-Davies' well known directory Armorial Families, last edition 1929, displaying ex libris of just one of the family members.

The first ex libris were often hand painted coats of arms on the cover or the front fly-leaf of a book. If we limit ourselves to printed ex libris that are pasted into the book the earliest one may be an armorial wood cut from about 1470 with the coat of arms of Hildebrand Brandenburg, a monk from Biberach in Württemberg (ill. 1). It is kept in several copies in different collections and is so well known that it is reproduced on the tie of the Bookplate Society in Britain (ill. 2).

Armorial Ex Libris II

2010-03-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

It is impossible to give a full historic overview of the heraldic ex libris in a few pages. So, I will try to present a picture of this important part of the ex libris world based on some different, fine and representative armorial ex libris in the main of today.

A typical armorial ex libris from the 18th century is an anonym plate with the coat of arms of the German imperial count and Russian field marshal Jurij Jurjevitj Browne (1698-1792) (ill. 3). He belonged to a Scotch-Irish noble family and participated with distinction in the Swedish war of 1741-43 and the Seven Years' War. Czar Peter III made him governor general of Livonia and state holder of Estonia. The plate with his motto FIDEM SERVABO GENUSQUE (I serve my faith and my race) is engraved in copper in 1779 by probably a German artist by name of S. Mansfeld.

Another plate from the 18th century is for the Swedish field marshal count Adam Lewenhaupt (1725-1775). When he needed an ex libris he commissioned one from the famous engraver Jean Striedbeck (1707-1772) in Strasbourg (ill. 4). Lewenhaupt is one of the oldest country houses of Sweden and its coat of arms has no fewer than eight helmets with different crests. Later on this ex libris was used by another Lewenhaupt with the same first name.

Armorial Ex Libris III

2010-03-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

Not unexpectedly the majority of the armorial plates are British. A fine example of the great plates from the 18th century and a typical royal bookplate is one of the ex libris of the great bibliophile Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, (1773-1843). His library at Kensington Palace had more than 50,000 volumes and was sold at auction after his death. One of the volumes, a heraldic book in Latin printed in1606, was sold in Stockholm in 2004. The ex libris shows the royal arms as born 1801-37 with a label of three points and the ribbon and collar of the Most Noble Order of the Garter; above the ducal coronet the royal crest (ill. 5). The motto SI DEUS PRO NOBIS QUIS CONTRA NOS means "If God is for us, who can be against us". There is a blank oval for the shelf mark, common in these days. The plate is signed "Perkins and Heath Hardened Steel Plate", which means that it was engraved in steel by the American engineer and inventor Angier March Perkins, in England from 1827 specialized in banknote engraving.

The most famous British artist of armorial ex libris was Charles William Sherborn (1831-1912). His copper engravings are unsurpassed and a fine example is the plate he made for the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Lupus Grosvenor (ill. 6). The duke was born in 1825, succeeded his father in 1869 as 3rd Marquess of Westminster and was raised in 1874 to Duke of Westminster. He resided at the castle of Eaton Hall at Chester. The plate was engraved in copper in 1884 and shows his full coat of arms with the ducal coronet and the Garter ribbon and collar with "Great George". The motto VIRTUS NON STEMMA means "Virtue, not pedigree".

Armorial Ex Libris IV

2010-03-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

A later master of copper engraving is George William Eve (1855-1914). A fine plate by him was engraved in 1903 for Sir Francis Reginald Wingate, KCB, (ill. 7). It is typical example of the three-dimensional heraldic style in contrast to the flat style common today. The coat of arms contains a portcullis which combined with the crest-motto WIN refers to the family name. KCB means Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, the ribbon of which with pendent badge encircles the shield. TRIA JUNCTA IN UNO (Three joined in one) is the motto of the order. A KCB is entitled to use the title Sir. Below the shield are four other orders or decorations.

On the European continent the armorial bookplates are not as restricted as in Britain therefore artists take greater liberties with designs. Ernst Krahl (1858-1926) was a heraldic artist to the Imperial and Royal court in Vienna and a very diligent ex libris artist. In 1895 he made a plate, printed in P1, for Baron Carlos de Vaux (ill. 8). The full coat of arms of the baron is surrounded by an elaborate frame of clinging plants. Above the crest the alliance shields of the baron and the baroness are shown. The inappropriate legend "Ex libris des...." (i.e. Bookplate of ...) is not unusual by Krahl.

Armorial Ex Libris V

2010-03-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

The other plate by Krahl is printed in heliogravure and shows the arms and the villa of Dr. Hans and Helene Bretschneider von Rechttreu with an interior view from the villa (ill. 9) .

The German emperor and Prussian king Wilhelm II (1859-1941) had an ex libris by professor Emil Doepler (1855-1922) in Berlin (ill. 10). It is an etching created in 1896 and shows the
imperial arms in a nice design with books. The collar of the Prussian order of the Black Eagle surrounds the shield.

Armorial Ex Libris VI

2010-03-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest ex libris engravers was the German-Danish artist Friedrich Britze (1870-1956). One of his plates of seal-type was engraved in copper in 1934 for count Reinhold Stenbock (1878-1946), one of the oldest Swedish noble families (ill. 11). During the German occupation of Denmark in the Second World War Friedrich Britze was thoughtless enough to make an ex libris for Werner Best, the German governor in Denmark, resulting on the loss of his position as an engraver to his Majesty the King.

Since heraldry is rich in color it is fairly obvious to have armorial ex libris printed in different colors as soon as it was technically possible. Five heraldic ex libris artists are presented here. Bruno B. Heim (1911-2003) was an archbishop in the Roman Catholic Church and a famous heraldist. The plate for His Excellency Hector Allard was devised by Heim in 1967 when Allard was Canadian Ambassador in Copenhagen where Heim was the Catholic nuncio (ill. 12). Of course the maple leaves refer to Canada; the bookplate is engraved in steel by the German master engraver Rudolf Niedballa (1914- ). The free shape of the lion is typical of Heim

Armorial Ex Libris VII

2010-03-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

The most famous Swedish heraldic artist Jan Raneke (1914- ) has made hundreds of ex libris. The plate for Folke Lindskog (1916-1999), a business man in Gothenburg, was drawn in 1980 and printed in P1/4 (ill.13). The linden leaves in the shield refer to his surname.

Dipl-Ing, Dr. Zdenko G. Alexy (1922- ) is a Slovakian heraldist who has made many ex libris in color. The plate for the German heraldist Johannes Krölls (1931- ) was made in 1981 and is printed in P1/7 (ill.14).

The Swedish heraldic artist Jacques de Wærn (1927- ) is represented here by an ex libris for me, president of the Swedish Ex libris Society (ill. 15). Below the shield are the two Royal medals of the Pro Patria Society and the Patriotic Society. And for the first (?) time in an ex libris the medal ribbons of the owner are shown.

Armorial Ex Libris VIII

2010-03-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

The Dutch heraldic artist Daniel de Bruin (1950- ) is unconventional in his art. The coat of arms designed by him has challenged many heraldists, being often three-dimensional with shades and palmy figures far from the orthodox flat style. Another peculiarity is that he has many personal bookplates with heraldic connection but none with his own coat of arms and none drawn by him. The plate for David Robert Wooten is typical for de Bruin, was made in 2003 and printed in offset in four colors (ill.16).

Two bookplates with heraldic objects in a milieu deserve to be shown. The German heraldist Lothar Müller Westphal (1941- ) has made a nice ex libris for himself relaxed and naked sitting, reading and smoking with his right arm resting on the shield and with the helmet on his left knee (ill.17). The legend "Us mingem Böcherschaaf" is in Niederrheinisch and the printing method is offset. The other ex libris is a wood engraving by Frank-Ivo van Damme (1932- ) from Belgium who is not a heraldist (ill.18). It was engraved in 1988 and shows in an unorthodox way the coat of arms of Etienne De Ryck and the municipal hall of Lier.

Armorial Ex Libris IX

2010-03-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

The Czech heraldist Václav Filip (Wenceslai Wocc), now living in Italy, has an unorthodox approach to the subject of heraldry - sometimes with erotoheraldic motifs. He is represented by a not so erotic alliance ex libris for him and his wife Maria Graziæ, printed in offset. He himself is the naked supporter of the arms (ill.19). With his right hand he is holding his own shield and with his left hand his wife's shield and the helmet is put on his head.

Lastly a heraldic ex libris; in this study we see a bookplate for the well known ex librist and diplomat Benoît Junod, Switzerland. It is strictly a bookplate with the arms of Junod (ill. 20). The shield is surrounded by the collar of Knight of the Sovereign Order of Malta and the small shields are Geneva and Neuchâtel, the cantons of origin of Junod. It is a copper engraving from 1986 by the Swiss artist Paul Aeby.

Armorial Ex Libris X

2010-03-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

The fact that the common ex libris of today is the paper ex libris to be pasted into the book does not mean that the super ex libris or supralibros are not used nowadays. A modern super ex libris is seen in illustration 21. It belongs to me and shows the shield of his arms and behind those two batons in saltire of the heraldists of the Order of Carpenters and the Order of Par Bricole respectively. It is designed in 2001 by the young Swedish heraldic artist Magnus Bäckmark (1974- ) and is impressed in gold on the outside of the front cover of a book.

Today the armorial ex libris is experiencing something of a revival, the future looks fine for heraldry with several people commissioning armigerous ex libris. There are now many young heraldic artists offering fresh design interpretations.

Antioch Bookplate Company I

2010-01-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

Antioch Bookplate Company

By

Edith Anderson Rights

Suddenly my attention has been focused on the Antioch Publishing Company (formerly the Antioch Bookplate Company) a concern with which most Americans who love books are familiar. [All facts about the history of Antioch Bookplate Company and any quotations used in this article were taken from the company’s publications: catalogs, brochures, and online web sites.] The spark for this attention was the announcement [New York Sun, June 14, 2007] that Antioch College (founded by Horace Mann) of Yellow Springs, Ohio, plans to close its doors on July 1, 2008, because it can no longer function in a fiscally valid manner. A few days later concern was expressed about the future of the periodical Antioch Review, a publication earlier spun off from its parent institution; unlike the Antioch Publishing Company which had never been officially a part of the college.

The Antioch Bookplate Company (the earlier name) is, so far as I can determine, the only business that has provided bookplate services for nearly a century, had absorbed an unknown number of their smaller competitors and is still the principal producer of universal bookplates in the United States. Small bookplate divisions still exist in companies, a few companies have survived more than a few years, and new companies still appear, but Antioch Bookplate Company is the largest and best known in the United States.

As early as 1946, I (then a college student) chose the Antioch bookplate G9 for use in my personal library. Later, in two decades (1984-2004) of inspecting institutional bookplate collections I saw and photocopied for my own use those advertising brochures and bookplate catalogues as appeared in these collections in order to identify properly some of the bookplates that had entered my collection. Any inspection of a bookplate collection created in the early 20th Century may well disclose a small brochure produced by a graphic artist who offers a group of designs from which an individual could choose a bookplate; any number of these entrepreneurs solicited business in this manner, although most collections have only one or two of these brochures. Most of those bookplate brochures by individual artists had no publication date although in some cases a date can be surmised from the age of the collections in which they appear. So far the only other significant 20th Century catalog, that I have seen, came from the firm Berliner & McGinnis.

Antioch Bookplate Company II

2010-01-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

Recently in inspecting the Notre Dame University’s online bookplate registry online, I found that collection (created probably around 1945) contained about 70 Antioch bookplates of that period but had no record that these were universal bookplates from Antioch.

While many bookplate collections (deliberately or not) contain a surprising number of universal bookplates, little has been done in documenting these ‘universals’ as a separate segment of any particular collection. Generally in fact, they are felt to have little value at all. The twenty-six examples, gleaned from my collection, are only a representation (not an exhaustive survey) of Antioch’s output since 1926.

There are at least four types of publication sources for universal bookplates beyond the Antioch Company. Probably the most common is college and university bookstores that sell bookplate packets with the institutional seal as the principal image, a sure source of sales to students, parents and alumni. Another source consists of the companies (such as Gaylord, Augsburg Press, and Library Bureau) that concentrate on supplying the needs of institutional libraries with a few bookplate designs in their inventory. At various times manufacturers of book oriented products have advertised their product with complimentary bookplates as did Globe-Wernicke with their sectional book cases and (in the present day) the QPB (Quality Paperback Books) and National Geographic firms. Additionally fund raising projects promoted by museums or other institutions may offer a particular design for a bookplate for purchase by their memberships; i.e. the one found in numerous collections with an individual’s name and the name Saranac Lake also imprinted.

The Antioch Bookplate Company is known to Americans, interested even minimally in the use of a bookplate, since their packets are to be found in most shops that sell books in the United States. Antioch College, where the bookplate company was founded and originally housed, was a school that advocated an education that alternated work and study. The company was never an actual Antioch College department or ever officially affiliated with the college. It was founded in 1926 by Ernest Morgan and Walter Kahoe, both Antioch College students, working at the campus print shop as part of a work-study program offered by the college. Distressed by the volume of paper cut-offs, trimmed from publications of the Antioch College press in the printing process, they wanted to find ways of turning this waste paper into something useful. In exchange for janitorial work and as a part of their work-study program, they scrounged printing supplies and used the shop’s press after hours to print a trial press run of decorative bookplates on strips of waste paper.

Antioch Bookplate Company III

2010-01-14T10:05:00.000-08:00

With permission from the college, the students named their venture The Antioch Bookplate Company. Eventually Kahoe sold his interest to Morgan; while Morgan continued his education during daylight hours and printed bookplates and bookmarks by night. Relatives and friends pitched in to help him with his fledgling business. To sell his product to dealers, Ernest Morgan hitchhiked his way around the region. “As Morgan neared the end of his academic education, he was offered an attractive employment opportunity with McGraw-Hill and he had to decide between a promising future with an established publishing firm or continuing the struggle to make his own business grow. After much thought, he chose to risk following his own course because his dreams included much more that simply earning a living. His goal was to create a ‘community of work,’ based on the Quaker values with which he was raised. These values included honesty, mutual respect, tolerance, recognition of the dignity of people and their ideas, and corporate and individual responsibility. Far ahead of his time, Ernest looked upon the workplace as a community of equals, sharing in the process of meaningful work and its rewards. By 1929, profit-sharing was a practice of the company, an institution that pioneered in democratic, inter-racial and profit-sharing policies.

The first flyer from Antioch, presumably in the1930s, consisted of ten design images, coded in the catalog as M. The two most often seen are the first featuring owls and the second having a stylized gazelle, both universally popular images for bookplates. A later undated single sheet flyer depicted twelve new images including that show two additional very popular themes, the first with a familiar verse by an unidentified author and the other with a frigate under full sail. Variations of the frigate image have been used without the compass rose and with the addition of lines from Emily Dickinson’s poem: “There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away.”

With the publication of the 1944 catalog (35 pages), the company’s inventory of designs had grown exponentially. They had also acquired the design stock of Stenzel & Company of New York City and the black and white designs of the Rustcraft Company of Boston. Rustcraft had in the 1920s and 30s also carried a series of at least eight four- color designs enhanced with gold accents that Antioch apparently did not acquire. The bookplate image of M6 had appeared also in an earlier Joseph G. Bolger flyer, although Antioch, using the same pictorial, restyled the lettering. The design used as R66 is representative of the twelve bookplate designs identified in the Antioch catalog as “the more popular items of the series formerly published by the Rustcraft Company, of Boston.”

Antioch Bookplate Company IV

2010-01-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

The opening page of this 1944 catalog illustrated, for the first time, the reproduction of Spitzweg’s “The Bookworm” that shows an elderly gentleman standing on the top of a library stepladder in front of a tall bookcase reading one book while holding another in his right hand, a third book under his left elbow and a fourth between his knees. This design was still carried in their 1990s catalog, although recut earlier; however, the original artist was identified only in the 1959 catalog.

Designs featuring silhouette images and a Viennese scherenschnitte were offered in the 1944 catalog and a few of these and others became dated. Two innovations also appeared in 1944. The first was a series of twelve zodiac designs created by Juanita Gould [see Bookplates in the News, #97, July 1994] without Antioch catalog numbers. The other was the introduction of color in a series of ecclesiastical designs by John Huchthausen and a series of five in bright colors by Owen Wise.

When the Company incorporated after World War II, employees were allowed to nominate two of their own board members, a practice that continues to this day. The company grew and prospered. While producing most of America’s bookplates, the Antioch shop also published the Yellow Springs newspaper.

The 1959 Antioch catalog of 32 pages announced the company’s acquisition of the bookplate designs Rockwell Kent had prepared for the Greenland Press and the designs of the Etchcraft Company (the best of the entire series catalogued as E) and illustrated eight designs (printed in brown or blue) commissioned from Lynd Kendall Ward [see Bookplates in the News, #105a, July 1996]. For the first time in this catalog, most of the images are accompanied with the artist’s name. Robert Whitmore’s design of a tree rooted in a book, first published as M7, is shown in its recut version. A more recent publication by Antioch explains this design as “the whitmore tree. knowledge and growth, two items necessary for learning, are timelessly represented in the graphic of a strong, healthy tree being nurtured by a large book. This icon, popularly referred to by Antioch employees as “The Whitmore Tree,” was designed by Robert Whitmore in the late 1920’s exclusively for Antioch Bookplate. Ernest Morgan, our founder, fondly remembered this graphic as one of his first purchased (and favorite) bookplate designs, which he commissioned from his good friend Robert. It is our most enduring design and still one of the most active bookplates in our line. It is also the basis for our current logo [again recut].”

Antioch Bookplate Company V

2010-01-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

The catalog of 1959 also illustrated four of eight designs (printed in brown) created in the 1950s by a new artist Benton Ferguson; in 2001 the series was labeled ‘The Young Moderns’ and had been expanded ten designs, each with stick-figure people whose faces are obscured by their open books. Another artist, Mark Kelley contributed three designs for a series of eight color bookplates for children, William Pringle provided four designs, and Carl S. Junge was credited with a single design for bookplates that were otherwise plain labels. Dorothy Burrage Chandor’s cat on a stack of books, John Hucthhausen’s leprechaun, and Cullen Rapp’s ornamented label, all introduced in the 1950s, were designated ‘old favorites’ by 2002.

Among the new offerings in the 1966 catalog of 29 pages were Raymond Da Boll’s calligraphic design created for himself [see Bookplates in the News, #15, January 1974] that was printed originally by Antioch and later adapted as a stock plate with minor changes; and even later republished using only Da Boll’s calligraphic lettering; a reproduction of Katsushika Hokusai’s Wave now designated an ‘old favorite’ and (also without identifying the artist) a contemporary design.

By 1968 sales had reached $350,000 annually. That year Lee Morgan, Ernest’s youngest son, joined the company, and during the next two decades the product line expanded into new book-related items such as bookmarks and journals.

In the 1980s the company was renamed Antioch Publishing Company and eventually established operations in Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico and has continued to expand. From a two-person operation utilizing a borrowed press in 1926, Antioch Publishing grew to have 600 employee-owners by the 1990s. For seven decades the company has continued the community-oriented spirit and human-centered values of its founder through its recycling programs, its charitable foundation, and its employee profit-sharing plans.”

Antioch Bookplate Company VI

2010-01-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

The catalog of the 1990s covered Antioch Publishing Company’s expanded product line, relegating its bookplate coverage to pages 41 through 47, with thirteen new bookplate offerings among the many older designs like the ancient map of the world and the bouquet of massed flowers.

The online listing of 2001 and 2002 contained illustrations of two designs which had obviously been part of Antioch’s stock for years and that were newly labeled as ‘old favorites’ without any reference to their earlier catalog numbers: the sepia design of an owl in a leafy background, and a colored design of a central medallion with two birds and three flowers within a scrolled branch.

Since 1926 Antioch Bookplate Company has published numerous versions of their philosophy and general policies that are interesting and informative. While universals, by their very nature, are not tailored expressly to an individual owner’s taste, in 1959, Antioch stated that: “bookplate art … alone among the arts seeks to show, in graphic form, some clue to the personality and spirit of its owner, some suggestion of his motivating values or interest, or something of his feelings about literature and life [and that] hidden beneath the sedate workaday exterior of each of us there is another self, a freer, truer self which most of us are afraid to show the world, lest our dignity suffer. There is a hunger for romance, poetry and adventure. Thus a personal bookplate should be both a device for identifying the books with their owner, and in a deeper sense a medium for identifying the owner with his books … to get a design that somehow ‘fits,’ not just in subject matter, but in feeling as well.”

And for those individuals who were not satisfied with a ‘universal’ design Antioch suggested: “If you have a design of your own, or can obtain such a design from an artist, our charge for making a cut is $3.00 … We strongly advise that wherever possible special designs be done by artists who can collaborate personally with their clients.” One such ‘commissioned’ bookplate [that I have seen] was prepared for and used by S. Barksdale Penick’s library in his home in Montclair, New Jersey. A print of this bookplate is in the Montclair Art Museum’s collection and reproduces the over-mantel metal sculpture of garden tools that hung over this library’s fireplace. Mr. Penick was later the president of the Montclair Art Museum’s board of trustees.

Antioch Bookplate Company VII

2010-01-14T09:35:00.000-08:00

The (undated) enclosure in an Antioch bookplate box promised that “If, for any reason, you are disappointed with the bookplates you order we shall consider it a favor to have them returned regardless of whose fault it may have been, for few things are more annoying than a displeasing or defective bookplate.” Whether this policy is still in effect is not known.

Antioch designs represent the selected work of many artists through its eighty-plus years, and have covered a wide range of subjects and styles. While the designs illustrated here are representative, other recognized bookplate artists (in addition to those already cited) provided designs including Valenti Angelo, Franklin Bittner, Bank B. Gordon, Dan Burne Jones, and Thijs Mauve.

Antioch bookplates do have a ‘universal’ appeal, although many designs became dated because of changes in modern opinions about styling. Many of their designs have been used for decades – are still popular, as their recent designation as ‘old favorites’ states. Certainly Dorothy Chandor’s cat deserves this accolade as does the bookplate featuring Sir Galahad in addition to the Spitzweg adaptation.

Jazz and Ex Libris -- An Introduction I

2009-12-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

Jazz and Exlibris - An Introduction

By

Thomas I. Roman
(1948-2004)

This summer of 2002 there is a unique exhibition taking place in the town of Sori in Italy. It is a first of its kind, and its subject is Jazz and Exlibris. This is a topic that many may already be familiar with, but perhaps not thought much about in terms of relationship between the two artforms.

There are certain parallels and once perceived, can enhance the pleasure and wonder each has to offer. Jazz is known and appreciated by many all over the World. The use of ex libris, or bookplates is less so. It is the intention of this introductory article to describe the relevance of both.

Jazz had its beginnings in the United States and ex libris has its roots in Europe. Many Jazz artists had difficulty in starting their musical careers at home. They went to Europe, where they pleased crowds of folks, who really appreciated their artistic creativity and ways of expression. After their reception in Europe, many jazz musicians returned to the United States, where they were finally accepted and admired.

There is a similar history and development for Ex Musicis, which is a bookplate applied to music libraries and more relevant to this article, regarding books about Jazz, its history, or biographies of Jazz artists and composers.

The Jazz Ex Libris or Ex Musicis is a personal expression of the owner. It is a reflection of how he feels about Jazz, what the music means to him, whether it is a glorification of individual instruments like the bass, sax - or the admiration for Jazz artists. Greats like "Ella," "Satchmo," "The Duke," "The Count,"or Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis or many others. It can also be a memory of the places, the clubs, the Strips where Jazz was happening, as represented by historical photos, stills from documentaries or vintage posters that can be shown on the design.

Jazz and Ex Libris -- An Introduction II

2009-12-16T11:19:00.000-08:00

It could also be a tribute to a certain musical number or a riff that somehow stays with you forever. Or maybe the little drawing or doodle you did on a napkin at the club, that came from the inspiration from a tune played that touched your heart and soul at the moment. And it does not matter if the feeling was love, sorrow or anger - you were inspired and you expressed yourself.

So if Jazz is good for you and good to you, if you care about what you hear and what it says to you, if you are a musician, a dancer or a listener, whether you are at a festival, a show or a club, at a jam session in an empty church, an elevator, or in your car, if you love the books you own about jazz, take it a step farther and make an Ex Libris for yourself, for the band you are in or the club you belong to.

The Jazz Ex Libris can be made in many ways, depending on your budget. On the high end one can hire a well-known artist to design the graphics for you. If it is done as an etching or engraving or a linoleum cut and colors, it can be pricey. And it must be emphasized here that these are the kind that collectors want and will wish to trade for. Less expensive and desirable are ones that are generated by computer, but these are common and very affordable.

Jazz and Ex Libris -- An Introduction III

2009-12-16T11:15:00.000-08:00

The Ex Libris lies closer to the heart and soul. It is also a way of expressing gratitude for jazz music, and all it does for us. It touches our lives so individually and intimately, mends the soul and allows the mind to recharge itself.

With these ideas about Jazz and Ex Libris, one wonders if there are any Ex Libris made for some famous jazz musicians and artists. Hopefully the answer is "Yes", and these are begging to be found. I hope that performing artists will be inspired to create their own Ex Musicis - their fans would surely appreciate these. This would be a very special touch and certainly collectible. So would Ex Libris bearing the name of bands, orchestras, or names of places, festivals, revivals, not to mention those that celebrate a new recording release. All these possibilities and the sky is the limit.

We have also seen jazz as an art form used to emphasize and dramatize movies, animation, documentaries and even advertising on television. It brings out the groove, the rhythm and mood of an otherwise dull presentation. Thus becoming a synthesis of vision and sound.

The Ex Libris for those who love Jazz should serve the purpose of a visual reminder of the music one loves. Seeing the Jazz Ex Libris should bring back memories and echoes of the tunes we’ve heard, the voices sung, the beat and the wail of the trumpet or saxophone, or the concluding Grand Finale of a session.

In conclusion it must be stated that the inspiration for writing this "introduction" was the desire to awaken the young people, the aspiring musicians and the readers to take some of these ideas; to make it their vision as well as the inspiration to express them. Hopefully, these introductory ideas will prompt your interest and appreciation for Jazz Ex Libris and Ex Musicis.

The Vienna Workshop, I

2009-11-25T10:32:00.001-08:00

The “Wiener Werkstatte” and its Ex Libris Artists

The Vienna Workshop

By

Heinrich R. Scheffer

When the Oestereichische Exlibris Gesellschaft (Austrian Ex Libris Society) was established over hundred years ago, it also marked the foundation of the Wiener Werkstätte as a “Cooperative of Craftsmen in Vienna,” whose aim was to promote the financial interests of its members – through teaching and instruction in the arts and crafts; through the making of all different forms of art /…/ designs, and through the establishment of workshops and the sale of their merchandise. The official name in the trade register concealed the initiative of two progressive Viennese artists and of a patron of the arts. They were Josef Hoffmann and Kolo Moser, professors at the arts-school in Vienna, and Fritz Waerndorfer, an art connoisseur and visionary, but most importantly a financially strong banker. They wanted to put into action the rather theoretical program of progressive Viennese artistry, calling it the “Secession” and injecting it with new life. “Stilkunst” (the art of style) should be incorporated into the “collective body of art,” and the works of the secessionists should encompass all areas of life.

Within the secessionist movement, Hoffmann and Moser were in charge of arts and crafts, and they tried to revitalize local or native handicrafts and techniques. These were to be transformed according to new criteria, as it was successfully done by Charles Robert Ashbee in his London workshop. The motto was “Art should be affordable for all” – whereby the craftsman was not working anonymously, as a “production machine” but in collaboration with the designer, and also having contact with the customer.

The Wiener Werkstätte (hereinafter WW) was a flourishing enterprise from its beginnings in 1903 until the company closed down in 1932. It managed to continue to do well even through World War 1, and in 1922 the WW set up a subsidiary in New York City. This company was registered under “Wiener Werkstätte of America Inc.” and had a salesroom at 581 Fifth Avenue. The commodity was therefore well established and much valued by collectors in the USA.

A sensitive modernization in the arts and crafts was noticeable as early as in autumn of 1900, at the VIII Exhibition of the Wiener Sezession (Viennese Secession), at which the works of the Scottish couple Margaret and Charles Rennie Macintosh were presented. First contacts with the British crafts-philosophy and their proponents were made during this time, which led to a lively exchange of ideas. One can draw a direct line from London to Vienna, and Hoffmann and Moser believed that, in a collective workshop, they would most likely be able to implement their new principles.

Initially Hoffmann’s and Moser’s artistic personalities dominated with their designs, but the English influence was highly visible. The black/white contrast, the square, irregular patterns by Macintosh were formative. The quadrat as ornament became the logo for Josef Hoffmann’s trellis decors; and the geometric shapes, such as the sphere, the cube, the ashlar or the cylinder, which were, at least during the first years of production the main features of design of the Vienna Workshop’s manufactured items. The monogram of the WW, and its registered trademark – the Rose label –and the signets of each employee also show the basic quadratic elements.

The Vienna Workshop, II

2009-11-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

Japanese sensibilities for art and form strongly influenced Viennese artists around the turn of the century. They saw that the art of space, the usefulness and use of material were not only recognized by the English, but also by the Japanese. In their work plan, published in 1905, function and intended purpose of a product were the overriding objective, because “we emanate from the intended purpose, usability is our basic requirement.”

The products of the WW were shown through exhibits within the country as well as abroad, and in a short period of time received recognition. In 1904 these products were shown in Berlin; in 1905 at the Gallery Miethke in the gallery’s Vienna showrooms, formerly used by a schismatic Klimt-clique. They were also shown in 1906 in London and in 1908 at an art exhibit in Vienna. The WW became international by establishing sales branches abroad: 1917 in Zurich, 1922 in New York and 1929 in Berlin.

WW products, even though they appealed to people because of their simplicity and contemporary style, were not really understood and were bought by a small fraction of the bourgeoisie. The artisans of the WW were swayed by a dream about “collective art work,” which they were able to fulfill between 1905 and 1911. However, they were not able to do it in Vienna, but in Brussels, after Baron Adolphe Stoclet awarded them a contract to build a palace for him. Everything, from architectural design to flatware was to be supplied by the WW. Hoffmann was able to hire the best craftsmen. Artist Gustav Klimt designed the mosaic frieze in the dining room, Ludwig Heinrich Jungnickel painted an animal frieze in the nursery, Berthold Loeffler did the tiles and majolicas. Also employed in this project were the sculptor-couple Luksch, Michael Powolny, Kolo Moser, Carl Otto Czeschka and Leopold Forstner.

Also important to the WW was the book and its décor. As stated in its work plan:
The machine works diligently and fills our bookcases with works of inadequate print. They are very low priced, but every cultural individual should be ashamed about the glut of material, because every production entails lesser responsibility and
leads to superficiality. How many books are really ours? And should one not own these books – with great jackets, printed on the best paper, bound in beautiful leather? We may have forgotten that the love, with which a book is printed, prepared and bound, makes for a special connection. That to be surrounded by beautiful objects makes us feel more beautiful ourselves. A book as a whole should be a work of art and should be valued as such. What an admission of the superior character of a book; a keen reminder of the quality of the whole – including an important detail in the book, the Ex libris.

The firm also included publishing; Oskar Kokoschka’s poem “Die Träumenden Knaben” (“Boys Dreaming”) of eight colored lithographs was released in 1908.
The WW also published a famous postcard series, which fetched top prices, and employed many other artists, such as Egon Schiele, Rudolf Kalvach, Ludwig Heinrich Jungnickel, Richard Teschner and Josef von Diveky. Also published were other, seemingly unimportant things of daily life, such as sheets of pictures, place cards, menus or labels (for wine bottles). It would have been an obvious step from this commercial art form to extend to the ex libris. Interestingly, the step was not made. No universal ex libris of the WW’s publishing company is known. The potential group of buyers was financially able to afford their own individual ex libris, created by an important artist; mass production not being acceptable to them. Still, a hint of commercial art was associated with these individual ex libris, because of an overabundance of bookplates created by minor artists or by amateur designers of this era.

The Vienna Workshop, III

2009-11-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

EX LIBRIS ARTISTS

The pool from which artists for the WW were acquired was for most part the “Kunstgewerbeschule” (School for Applied Arts), which was affiliated with the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry. The museum was founded in 1864 and the school became a part of it in 1867. Thirty years later the school underwent a reform and as a result became one of the most progressive art schools on the continent. The reform was made possible by a member of the board of trustees, Otto Wagner, architect and professor at the Viennese Academy, who believed that ”Kunst im Handwerk” (industrial art) needed to be advanced. Teachers were appointed who were exponents of a modern “constructive principle,” a so-called “Nutzstil” (useful style). A whole generation of teachers had to be replaced by “Secessionists.” Chief principals of these master classes were Kolo Moser, Josef Hoffmann and later Alfred Roller.

Ample talent was available from the influx of different peoples of the monarchy who during their years of study were sent by their teachers to work at the WW. Over time, about 200 artists have made more or less important contributions to the Vienna Workshop – and thus established an important reference for themselves.

While still in school, the students were introduced to the design of ex libris, and the School for Art and Design – today the University for Applied Arts – time and again arranged ex libris competitions. According to an account by Alfred Roller in the ÖEG yearbook (1910) about such a contest, sponsored by Dr. von Brücke, fifteen etched designs were available. Typical for the New Style of that time were submissions from Josef von Diveky (1887–1951) and from Rudolf Kalvach (1883–1932) – who later on frequently created ex libris’ in their artistic paths.

Through the multitude and wide spectrum of artistic functions to which the WW artists dedicated themselves, there remained limited time for bookplates, and none of them can therefore be classified as an ex libris artist. Ex libris attributed to artists from the WW are therefore very scarce.

These ex libris have a unique flair in any ex libris collection. They are different from other bookplates because of their motifs, ornaments and typography. The graphic element predominates, the laminar is in the foreground, and the physical notion is downplayed or completely negated. Figurative depictions prevail in their choices of motifs and are clearly brought into focus. Symbolism and landscapes play a minor part. Ornaments in strict geometric forms, as made by Dita Moser, or the more playful Dagobert Peche designs, are an important feature in ex libris. This is perpetuated in the type, which is succinctly, with great imagination and often dominantly engraved on a bookplate. This led to theoretical considerations, and some artists applied themselves only to the lettering and its theory. The graphics on the bookplates also determine the technique of reproduction which was mostly made into a printing plate or lithographically completed. Traditional gravure techniques were not applied.

The Vienna Workshop, IV

2009-11-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the most quoted ex libris in this context is the bookplate for Fritz Warendorfer, drawn by Kolo Moser (Vienna 1868 – 1918 Vienna). Moser studied at the Wiener Academy (Academy of Vienna) and at the Art Academy, where he held a professorship from 1900 – 1918. He was a co-founder of the Wiener Sezession and made numerous graphic contributions to the journal Ver Sacrum. He was probably one of the most talented all-around artists in Vienna at the turn of the century. One should also point out his organizing ability. Moser’s impact lies in the fact that early on he saw a pictorial trend for applied arts and therefore preached a reflection on simplicity and authenticity; also stressing usefulness and reliance on architectural ideals. His role models were Otto Wagner and his colleague Josef Hoffmann. The implementation of his ideas in a conservative Vienna took some determination, but he succeeded with the full support of the Secession.

Moser’s wife, Dita Moser, nee Mautner von Markhof (1883–1969) was also a graphic artist and designer. She studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School for Applied Arts) and made her mark at the WW by designing calendar sheets, toys for children and a deck of tarot card. The geometric clarity of these cards was appreciated as it represented the new style of functional graphics. The print was marginal, the usability was limited because of the idiosyncratic design of these cards, however, they were much sought-after by card collectors.

The ex libris for Editha Mautner von Markhof, Baronin Sustenau, created in 1907, is a good example for the style in which the quadrat – Hoffmann’s basic element – illustrates an important structure. It is actually a modern crest ex libris, showing the family crest of the industrial family Mautner von Markhof with a turret and a shamrock, still used as a trademark today on products of their company, Mautner Markhof. The same goes for the “archer”, the escutcheon of Barons Sustenau von Schützenthal. What a difference these are when compared with the excessive heraldic plates by Ernst Krahl, which were made at the same time.

The Vienna Workshop, V

2009-11-25T10:21:00.000-08:00

Alfred Roller (1864-1935) was professor at the Kunstgewerbeschule and its director from 1909 – as well as a founding member of the Viennese Secession. Roller had close relations to the theater and initially designed costumes for the cabaret Fledermaus. He then collaborated with Max Reinhardt in Berlin, for whom he created countless stage designs and later became executive director for décor at the Wiener Staatstheater. His exlibris for Fritz Oberndorfer (1899) is a good example of the art movement of the early Secessionists. It is steeped in intellect with a balanced image-format where “not the professional activity but the true identity of the owner may be manifested in his Exlibris.” (Alfred Roller)

Another student at the same Kunstgewerbeschule was Berthold Loeffler (1874–1960). He took over a professorship in 1907, after Carl Otto Czeschkas’ move to Berlin. He taught art classes and held a workshop for print technology. He was a professor at the school until 1935. In addition to ceramic works, which he created together with Michael Powolny and the “Viennese Ceramics” – he applied himself to a variety of graphic works, such as book illustration, postcard design, posters, and general design. Loeffler created only a few exlibris, among them the two important and well known bookplates for psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud of Vienna and the poet Arthur Schnitzler. The ex libris for Loeffler’s wife Melitta (born Feldkirchner) is a beautiful example of the effortless, succinct style expressed by artists in the WW. His wife, often Loeffler’s model, was also an artist, known for her embroideries, which she designed and crafted in collaboration with the WW.

Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) was a student of Berthold Loeffler at the Kunst-gewerbeschule and in the early years of his artistic career Kokoschka was strongly influenced by him. He outgrew his teachers and colleagues as a painter, as a graphic artist and as a man of letters. Kokoschka worked for the WW from 1907 to 1909 and also participated as a staff member in the Fledermaus décor. Kokoschka designed 15 postcards and several prints, and caused a sensation with the above mentioned story-book, “Die Träumenden Knaben” (“Boys Dreaming”) featuring eight magnificent lithographs.

Kokoschka’s ex libris for Emma Bacher shows his expressionistic, revolutionary style, which for Austria around that time was quite remarkable. The bookplate was displayedin the yearbook of the Oestereichische Exlibrisgesellschaft in 1909 as a sample of Kokoschka’s art work, and was received with spontaneous praise: “Perhaps this sorcerer’s apprentice will one day be revered as an old master.” Though Kokoschka lived a long time, he left only fourteen exlibris prints.

Emma Bacher was the wife of the Viennese jeweler and wealthy patron of the arts, Paul Bacher. Bacher acquired his gallery in 1904 to accommodate the Klimt-faction which had split with the Secession - to give them a showroom. In 1907, after the death of her husband, Emma Bacher took over the gallery and further cultivated the contact with its artists: Gustav Klimt, Kolo Moser, Alfred Roller, Emil Orlik, and others. Thus the contact to Oskar Kokoschka was established here as well.

The Vienna Workshop, VI

2009-11-25T10:16:00.000-08:00

Emma Bacher was also familiar with Richard Teschner (1879–1948) and married him in 1911. Teschner studied in Prague at the Kunstakademie (Academy of the Arts) and in 1900 briefly attended classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna. He became wellknown for his puppet-shows, exhibiting his famous “Figurenspiel” (bodies reflected in a mirror), modeled on East-Asian culture. The Marionetten-Buehne (Puppet Theater) is alive today at the Theatermuseum in Vienna, and performances continue in the Teschner “Spiel” tradition. Teschner’s relocation to Vienna in 1909 was intimately connected with the WW. His work there included postcards, sculptures, metal works and book illustration. Free from financial responsibilities through his marriage to Emma Bacher, he joined the Klimt-circle, but did not identify himself with their spirit of revolutionary freedom, which to him seemed rather dogmatic. He remained true to his own style, which is more figurative, with playful ornaments of a grotesque and fantastic subject matter.

Like many other artists, Richard Teschner was multi-talented: a painter-engraver, a costume designer, and lute builder. He worked in different graphic-techniques, such as book illustration, posters, and numerous ex libris. One hundred and nine bookplates were found in his estate. The exlibris for Professor Arnold Epstein (1904) was made in his early days in Prague.

Anton Kling was a contemporary of Teschner (1881–1963). He received his education at the Kunstgewerbeschule between 1898 and 1903. His teachers were Josef Hoffmann and Alfred Roller. Kling belonged to the first generation of students who were taught by modern teachers of that institution, and who later became active in the Vienna art scene. Some of these art-students later became teachers and went on to teach not only in Austria’s Crown Lands, but also in neighboring Germany, where they successfully passed on the original Viennese art to their students.

One of them, the first Viennese at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Hamburg, was Carl Otto Czeschka (1878–1960). He brought with him Richard Luksch and Franz Carl Delavilla; the latter held a position as a design-teacher in Magdeburg (1909) as well as in Hamburg. Josef Maria Olbrich was employed in Darmstadt, where he became co-founder of an artists-colony. In 1911 another Viennese, Emanuel Josef Margold (1889–1962) joined the colony.

Anton Kling came to Hamburg in 1908, a move that was mediated by Czeschka. In 1923 he went on to Pforzheim, where he gave new impulse to jewelry design.

The Vienna Workshop, VII

2009-11-25T10:13:00.000-08:00

Anton Kling received recognition from Josef Hoffmann in his diploma, stating:
“his brilliant talent and resourcefulness in architectural design, as well as his taste and perception.” Kling played a part as a “decorative assistant” for the Fledermaus when working for WW. In 1908 his work was relevant in organizing the “Wiener Kunstschau” (Vienna Art Exhibition) where some of his ex libris’ – among his other works – were shown. Thirteen of his bookplates are well known. An early ex libris for the painter Magda Mautner von Markhof beautifully balances the ornamental element with a landscape.

One of the few artists who worked for the WW without preparation at the
Kunstgewerbeschule, was Dagobert Peche (1887–1929). He became interested in the arts and crafts movement after his studies at the Technische Universität (Institute of Technology) in Vienna; then as a student of architecture at the Wiener Akademie, which he left in 1911 to work as a freelance design artist. In 1915 he was invited by Josef Hoffmann to join the staff at the WW – where he was able to assert himself with his more playful, ornamental style – and prevail by giving critical new impulses. He also had important ideas for jewelry-, enamel-, tortoiseshell- and ivory design; and for metal-works and goldsmith-design. In the end his style prevailed in the entire production. Through export of WW’s merchandise, Peches also received name recognition abroad. Last but not least, he became the representative of the WW at their base in Zurich vom 1916 to 1918.

Dagobert Peche was also devoted to books and designed book-covers and some ex libris. The bookplate with his name shows how Peche’s style changed since the first decade at the WW, in which the geometric style was replaced with freer graphics.
His bookplate for Wilhelm Baumgartner shows an aging harlequin in front of a curtain, and the rhombs in his costume highlight the black and white contrast.

Another artist who needs to be mentioned in connection with the WW is the type designer Rudolf von Larisch (1856–1934). He was a consultant to the WW from the beginning, and the typeface used by the WW for forms, invitations, announce-ments, etc., shows his influence. WW’s famous company emblem from 1903 and Larisch’s ex libris clearly show the same type font design. Larisch began teaching at the Kunstgewerbeschule in 1902, at the Graphic “Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt,” and at the Wiener Academie and he applied himself to the theoretical and practical side of letters. He wrote numerous important essays about, for example, writing as related to art, and the legibility of ornamental letters. Larisch was an important proponent of the reformation of the art of writing. By developing a new style of writing, he set a benchmark for its daily requirement. Readability was his maxim; theoretical studies, the layout of letters, the connectedness of letter-endings and the meaning of the spacing between letters have supported his theory. His teaching was not only about type design, but most of all to promote the appreciation for new type fonts. His importance was the expansion of this vision and its acceptance for daily use.

The Vienna Workshop VIII

2009-11-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

One can name many more artists who, on one hand made their contributions to the Wiener Werkätte, but who also created ex libris. To list them all would go beyond the scope of this essay. It has to be said, however, that the style to which the artists of WW felt committed, lives on to this day in its effectiveness and good taste; moreover, the era still greatly affects our sense of style and it is an important part of the cultural identification in central Europe.

Literature:

Peter Vergo: Art in Vienna 1898 – 1918. London : Phaidon Press, 1975.
Werner J. Schweiger: Wiener Werkstätte, Kunst und Handwerk, 1903–1932. Wien : Edition Christian Brandstätter, 1982. English version published by Thames & Hudson.
Michael Pabst: Wiener Graphic um 1900. Munchen : Verlag Silke Schreiber, 1984.
Werner J. Schweiger: Aufbau und Erfüllung. Gebrauchsgraphic der Wiener Moderne. Wien-Munchen : Edition Christian Brandstätter, 1988.
Heinrich R. Scheffer: 100 Jahre Österreichisches Exlibris. Wien : Österreichische
Exlibris Gesellschaft/Österreichischer Kunst- und Kulturverlag, 2004.
Jahrbücher der Österreichischen Exlibris Gesellschaft: 1907, 1909, 1910, 1912, 1918, 1929, 1949/51, 1992/93.

Picture credits: Scheffer Collection, Vienna, Austria.

About the author: Heinrich R. Scheffer, born in 1942, studied chemistry in Vienna.
He has lived abroad for 17 years and is presently a Manager in a globally operating chemical company, with an office in Munich. For 33 years he has devoted his free time to collecting, publishing and organizing events connected to exlibris and contemporary Austrian art graphics. Between 1987 and 1991 he supported the development of Austrian art graphics by establishing and organizing the contest “FINGERPRINTS” for young artists. He has been President of the Österreichische

Exlibris Gesellschaft (Austrian Ex Libris Society) since 2000. He lives and works in Munich and Vienna.

Regarding Bookplates I

2009-11-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

Regarding Bookplates

By

Ralph Fletcher Seymour

It is a pleasant experience, on opening a book, to find a bookplate on the inside cover. On such an occasion the discoverer is predisposed in their favor, as he holds in his eager hands a book, a veritable mirror of life, and the label is in its way a more or less bright mirror of the owner’s life. Bookplates are, in this way, a pleasant episode, much like a lovely landscape seen in the course of a long trip, and remain a half defined but pleasant help to the business of living thru the day.

It has become the custom to elaborate a simple label by enriching the design with items expressive of the taste, personality or fancy of the owner. This procedure should make a more beautiful and desirable thing out of a plain and serviceable label. It, first of all, should set forth the owner’s name, perhaps his residence, and may serve to inform the observer of the profession, avocation or special interests of the possessor, thus becoming a contribution to the book in which they appear. Realizing so glorious a destiny is not one of the smallest of achievements for few things which crows into the pages of a book actually have earned so fair a distinction, but bookplates have been used for hundreds of years and, like old wine and old friends, have arrived at a spiritual development both precious and rare.

At the time of their origin they, in a measure, filled the place of those painted and carved covers or bindings which bore the coat of arms, initials, or other emblem of the owner. They became a feature in books when printing became the handmaid of democracy and books were no longer written by scribes in exclusive scriptoriums for rich churches or for great nobles. The earliest known bookplate came from Germany. It is a woodcut of a hedgehog among flowers possibly the author’s playful picturegraph of himself among his books. All the early ones were either etched on copper or cut in wood and, printed on paper, were pasted on the first page of books or on the inside front cover if the books were in permanent bindings. At that date they were mostly armorial designs the “Ex Libris” did not appear nor that matter did the name of the owner often show.

Germany, France and England in manner typical of their natures, developed their own design in bookplates. A hundred years or so ago they were all engraved or etched and there are periods in their development as there are styles of architecture, ships, and armorials. I could never feel more than a weak enthusiasm for the typical engraved armorial bookplate: the idea of personality lost in the family, which these plates presented, gave a minimum of hope to the creative artist, although there are occasional fine plates such as George W. Eve used to design, dignified and well proportioned, with finely handled shields, mantling, ribbons and lettering.

Regarding Bookplates II

2009-11-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

All sorts of material is serviceable for the factual part of bookplates. Entrance gates, houses, fireplaces, libraries, whimsical or literary ideas, fishing or hunting, golf, sailing, not to mention armorial, typographical and other styles, all are motifs that serve as material on which to base a bookplate design. In fact it seems to be of little importance what the subject may be and of much importance how it is used. The most significant development in bookplates has been the markedly finer quality of the art and design evident in modern work. At the commencement of their history and now again, having passed through a long period of mediocrity, typical bookplates are excellent in design and require first rate and creative artists to design them.

It is desirable that well designed bookplates accentuate the manner in which they have been reproduced, whether woodcut, line engraving, halftone or collotype, and the more nearly this method is expressive of the craft to typography the more proper is the mechanical part of the print. Perhaps the least used method at present and perhaps the best is the woodcut, when done in the very early manner and by a good craftsman. Plates, so reproduced, present the peculiarly harmonious appearance of works of art, showing the little marks of the cutting tool characteristic of the woodcut. The same may be said for the engraved or etched plate. Halftones and collotype tend to erase these marks. Line drawings, which are reproduced mechanically into zinc printing plates often are too much reduced from the original drawing to keep any character, or have too much solid black or lines too thin and stringy, and are therefore often disappointing.

Regarding Bookplates III

2009-11-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Bookplates are meant to appear only with printed books and should appear to have been produced under conditions similar to those under which books are made. The observance of this rule would improve the character of plates designed by first rate artists, whose plates sometimes seem to more nearly express the character of illustrations or painting than of typographical designs.

An example of a period plate is here shown in the Racquet Club label. It is interesting because in style it is accurate and there is a good balance and proportion between the animated group and the decoration.

Differing completely in plan and execution is the John Timothy Stone plate, it presents the happy hunting ground of a fisherman both of the souls of men and trout. The design is entirely naturalistic.

The Union League Club plate is a combination of picture and of decoration, and is interesting historically because it portrays periods in the development of Chicago. The Archibald Church Library Plate is a modern institutional plate in the pictorial manner superior to the usual plate of this character.

Regarding Bookplates IV

2009-11-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

These four labels are all from copper etched plates. The bitten lines and tone secured from intaglio lines and from wiping the plate give a delicacy not otherwise obtained. Quite different in character are the two heavily drawn printed plates. That of Edna Kircher is an allegorical design and portrays the ever-recurring difficulty into which men are innocently precipitated by the eternal woman who will not leave the gnarled old Tree of Knowledge alone. Beyond in the pleasant valley lie all vanities swept by clean winds of heaven. That faithful recorder of the joys and griefs of humanity, a book, appears in the design. The woodcut plate of the turtle and shield also has a tree for its major motif. Both these plates are designed to be printed from blocks.

Beginning with the Bruce plate more than twenty five years ago, Mr. Seymour has designed a considerable number of Ex Libris labels and his studio is seldom without several in process of etching or to be made for letter press printing. It is a pleasure to thus contribute in a small degree to the bibliophilic pleasures of a few who, having yielded to the seduction of books, have then plunged more deeply into the esoteric indulgence of “getting a bookplate”.

Architecture in Ex Libris I

2009-10-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Architecture in Ex Libris

By

Cliff Parfit

Architecture is a prime subject for pictorial bookplates. They might include buildings of great note, such as Cathedrals, castles, and city halls, and it is a great pleasure to observe how a clever artist can suggest the scale of a large building within the restricted area of an ordinary ex libris. A delightful example which immediately comes to mind is the private and now tremendously rare bookplate of Antonio Gaudi, the brilliant Spanish or Catalan architect, whose world-famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral and many other superb domestic buildings, draw so many modern pilgrims each year to his beautiful city of Barcelona. His bookplate shows an image of some of his futuristic spires, and is redolent of the period.

However, the topic of architecture and ex libris is so vast, that on this occasion I plan to deal only with private homes of various sizes chosen by their proud owners to be the subject of private ex libris plates. On the whole, the houses we see pictured in ex libris are far larger than most private homes being built today. Now, we value comfort, convenience and ease of up-keep in our homes, while ‘building for show’ takes a definite second place, so that in Britain and in most places on the Continent of Europe, most very large private homes have found a new lease of life as corporate offices, schools, and so on. Moderately large houses have found millionaire occupants, and the large majority of city dwellers choose the convenience and comparative safety of sky living in convenient modern flats – not larger than can be easily maintained without or with minimal help. True, there has recently been a reverse trend in Britain toward the purchase of country homes; and some town dwellers, fed up with the noise and bad air of modern towns are finding refurbishing and enjoying life in ancient reconditioned barns, and other country buildings as well as the more usual but far more expensive picturesque cottages.

Architecure in Ex Libris II

2009-10-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

Ex libris by Bernhard Wedepohl show thatched rustic buildings which were obviously very comfortable country homes in rural Germany during the first three decades of the last century. And, most delightful of all to my mind, were those which pictured cottages at night with the lamp light showing through the windows, and the impression in my mind that inside sturdy men in lederhosen are sitting in front of blazing stoves with their comfortable fraus, drinking schnapps, and listening to Wagner on the gramophone.

The fashion for ‘house’ ex libris dates as far back as the 1880s, when the houses which figure in exlibris are stolid and spacious rather than picturesque. Some of these homes seem to be set in small parks or swathes of woodlands sufficiently detached in their setting as to show no other building apart from the house chosen for the plate – this might, of course, be artistic licence as in the sketches in many house agents. One plate, here shown, shows not only part of the interior of a large house including a massive staircase, but also the impressive but not particularly artistic exterior of the house. Large homes at this period were a great asset to families which might have half dozen or more children and a number of servants, but the more general use of electric lighting, gas cookers, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, telephones, etc. gradually gave the coup de grace to the large house and garden, while at the same time better paid jobs in commerce and industry took away the available house servants of both sexes.

Architecture in Ex Libris III

2009-10-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

The turn of the century and a few decades following was a time of great popularity for bookplates. Anyone who had a bookcase full of books felt he or she needed a bookplate as did many who had hardly any books at all, as a nice bookplate became a harmless method of showing off a little. Amongst the wealthier classes in Britain (with even a few wealthy Americans and Canadians), a popular type of bookplate was meticulously engraved with almost photographic accuracy to show not only the houses, but the grounds, pets, and other possessions of the well-heeled customers who flocked to Mr. W. P. Barrett of Bumpus – London’s finest book shop at the period. The bookplates were engraved by contract engravers working in their own premises, but it was Barrett to whom they looked for their work, and it was he who visited the clients and planned the work in great detail. These bookplates were expensive and had limited appeal, but Barrett was patronized by the Royal Family, and so by most of the wealthier people of the time, and these bookplates encapsulate a style of house and garden, then at its zenith, but soon to be outmoded by problems left by the First World War. One rather elegant manner of boasting in a Barrett style plate was what might be termed the ‘talkative footman’ style, in which the owner tried to cram into a ‘house plate’ some reference to his (it was generally a man) expensive school and college and/or his expensive hobbies, such as shooting, hunting, and so on. Ladies would be more likely to include a picture of an adored dog or cat. Other harmless bits of ‘show off’ in the house plates of successful entrepreneurs might be the casual inclusion of a piece of classical sculpture or a mostly unread library. As we look at them today, bookplates such as these, can tell much about the lifestyle and the foibles of the owners as well as about their houses.

Architecture in Ex Libris IV

2009-10-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

In Britain many of the ‘stately homes’ have survived as museums of some kind, but on the continent of Europe, many were destroyed in the two world wars or, as in Britain, converted into hotels, etc. However, smaller homes have mostly survived still, fortunately, as family homes. Thatched roofs now attract large insurance premiums, but the proud owners pay willingly in the comfortable knowledge that their beautiful, warm, thatched homes are increasingly greatly in value year by year. Similarly, stone houses, once unpopular as being thought cold and draughty, are now comfortable at all seasons with air conditioning, under-floor heating, etc. so that small terrace houses and country cottages are being upgraded or ‘gentrified’ as we say in colloquial English with elegant ensuite bathrooms and neat kitchens, winkled into small areas of waste space, while the house exteriors retain all their period charm. The fashion for illustrating one’s home, library, study, or garden in a bookplate has, for the time at least, rather died out. It seems that most collectors find more pleasure in plates showing lovely women. But women, I feel sure, if they choose new bookplates, will not opt for pictures of handsome men, but will choose rather images of smart kitchens, cosy living rooms and elegant homes.

Barking Bookplates I

2009-10-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Barking Bookplates

By

Millicent Vetterlein

(Reprinted with permission from “Bark”, Summer ’04)

In the 16th century, hounds, whippets and books were the SUVs and diamonds of European nobility – these most visible badges of affluence, prized by owners, are now esteemed by collectors the world over for their identifying tags and labels.

Safeguarding and identifying such cherished possessions as a hound or a Bible in the Middle Ages crated a new métier for artists and artisan. The need for a metal collar or a customized bookplate became occasion to decorate and adorn. Thus, a miniature art from emerged. A coat of arms might embellish a metal collar or become the ornamentation on a newly acquired manuscript.

While countless tapestries show the ornate wide collars of the hounds, the 550-year-old history of the emblem of identification known as the ex libris, or bookplate, is less well-known.

Primarily a European phenomenon, bookplates evolved from coats of arms to become far more illustrative labels. Usually placed on the inside front cover of a book, the words ex libris (meaning “from the books of …”) would be printed or scripted, followed by the owner’s name or signature along with a design or image – together forming a kind of monogram, or a literary tattoo. Within a framework of several inches, these delightful, expressive paper rectangles often told a story or held a secret. And in every period of plate making, one can find canine images. Pedigreed patricians, humorous mongrels and specific pets are all represented.

Barking Bookplates II

2009-10-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

No wonder the canine image has been chosen by so many booklovers for their plates – the dog is almost universally symbolic of protection, fidelity and duty, as well as companionship. Well-know bookplate designer and collector Edward Gordon Craig observed, “A bookplate is to a book what a collar is to a dog.” People who cherish both books and dogs are reluctant to part with either without promise of safe return.

While artistic value of bookplates had long been appreciated, it was not until just over a hundred years ago that plates moved from functional private ownership into the hands of collectors.

Today, societies of collectors exist in more than 50 countries, and Internet correspondence makes collecting easy. Most plates, including historic ones, can be purchased for under $10, making them a very affordable collectible. Distant friendships grow as one expands a collection, or focuses on a type, a theme or a breed.

Barking Bookplates III

2009-10-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

Artists are still creating these miniature works of art. Methods of etching, woodblock and silkscreen are popular, along with traditional printing techniques and even computer-assisted creation.

A commissioned plate in a limited edition signed by the artist may fetch several hundred dollars. Plates not used in a personal library can be traded to launch a collection.

Designing one’s own ex libris – or “Ex Webis” for Internet junkies – is also possible. The designing of a plate can involve a wonderful collaboration with an artist. (this booklover’s bonus has not been lost on the past few centuries’ weather folk, who’ve commissioned designs from artists and engravers such as Albrecht Dürer, Marc Chagall and Kate Greenaway). The unique result is often a memorial to a special pet or a celebration of the dog in one’s life – Call of the Wild author Jack London used a picture of a wolf on his bookplate. But whatever one’s interest, the bookplate aficionado will be warmly welcomed into this growing collecting specialty.

The Metaphysical World of Alexander Aksinin I

2009-10-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

The Metaphysical World of Alexander Aksinin in Ex Libris

By

Ilya Libenzon

When I started collecting bookplates a couple of years ago, I was fortunate to make the acquaintance of Nadia Kovalenko, the director of Kharkiv’s bookplate society in Ukraine. After several months of correspondence, she sent me a letter along with the copy of one ex libris of a gifted artist. She said: “… three years ago I discovered the bookplates of Alexander Aksinin. I am sending you one of these bookplates. At the time I thought that this artist is a genius but, unfortunately, I couldn’t find anybody who knew anything more about the artist, except for Nikolai Molochinskiy, Kharkiv’s graphic artist from our ex libris society. He told me that Aksinin is from Lviv, Ukraine, and that he died in a car or plane accident in 1985. And that was all the information I could unearth. Later, I realized that Aksinin had occupied a very special place in my mind.” Nadia asked for my opinion of the ex libris she sent. Here is my attempt to decipher the content of his work.

It is an interesting ex libris, inviting us to interpret its meaning. The technique is superb and the content is even more fascinating. It seems that even from the words “Memorial Ex Libris… one could assume that the work was done for a special occasion such as an anniversary, most like a marriage. This assumption appears to be reinforced by the fortress or house in the form of a cone, symbolizing the family and the red stripes can represent the bond of the couple. As for the apple and pear, I don’t have any particular idea; however, in the aforementioned context the half-eaten apple might symbolize 50 years of married life (associating the apple with Adam and Eve). As for the other fruit, a pear without an apple was always associated with the male’s genitals, although I am not sure how to link it to this particular image. From the look of these two creatures, one could guess that the owners of the bookplate prefer the science fiction titles in their library. The most ambiguous element of this work is the cone. Usually this is associated with the tower of Babel, but in this case the cone appears upside down.

Soon thereafter, Nadia Kovalenko referred me to the excellent article written by Viktor Rivaling, published in the Toronto Slavic Quarterly web journal. There I learned that “Alexander Aksinin (1949-1985) was a graphic artist specializing in engravings. He was killed in an airplane crash while en route to the opening of an exhibition of his works in Tallinn. V. Rivulet’s article was first published in the journal Chasy, no. 36 (1982); portions of it also appeared in K. Kaminski’s Antologgia Globoid lagoon.”

In his article, Victor introduces the reader to one of his won bookplates made by A. Aksinin. I have this bookplate in my collection as well. Here is what the author of the article writes in regards to the work:

“On one of the walls of my apartment hangs a bookplate by Aksinin. There is a strange creature, a semi animal or semi human formed by triangles in the center of an ellipse surrounded by a geometrical ornament on the perimeter at the edge of the figure. It renders a

The Metaphysical World of Alexander Aksinin II

2009-10-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

beautiful and irregular pattern. A friend, who is a specialist on Eastern poetry, visited me one day and pointed out on the bookplate. “Oh, you have ‘Leila and Medgun’ here in the picture”. This is a well known story in the Far East about love, death, dignity and the victory of human passion. This work is unique because it recreates the old traditions in art where the story is told by means of graphics. And most of the Aksinin’s works contain a complete story.”

Further investigation led to the discovery of the 2001 issue of the art magazine “Galitskaya Brama” printed by the Center of Europe Press, dedicated entirely to the artist. From there I learned that during his short life Aksinin created around 300 graphic works, mostly executed on etchings and copper engravings. His portfolio contains illustrations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1976-77) and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1977-78). He also worked on The Book of Changes or I Ching, based on Chinese ancient philosophy (1984-85); a series of etchings dedicated to the Netherlands’s artist Hieronymus Bosch (1977-78); Signs of the Zodiac (1979); Sounds (1980); Months (1980); Words (1980-81); Mail of Alexander Aksinin (1983-85) and bookplates for relatives, friends and numerous acquaintances.

One of the themes that interested me the most was I Ching or the Book of Changes. The oracles in ancient times used this book to predict the future and this text became a source of wisdom and provided a foundation for Confucian philosophy.

I think that Alexander Aksinin and his graphic work contributed to the interpretation of such complex works. Here we have an example of one of the artist’s prints dedicated to the Book of Changes , translated from Chinese by Richard Wilhelm.

“This hexagram is number 52. The image of this hexagram is the mountain, the youngest son of heaven and earth. It calls for peace and tranquility. When a man has become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He no longer sees in it struggle of individual beings, and therefore he has the true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them. Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.”

It would be unfair not to mention the influence of such artists as Bosch and Bruegel to Aksinin’s work given that there is an entire series called “Boschiniana”. Moreover, his work “Tower of Babel Will be Built” was executed reminiscing Bruegel’s “Tower of Babel”. There are some symbols used in his illustrations frequently found in these two great masters as well.

One of these metaphorical symbols is a fruit, associated with carnal, physical pleasure. Borrowing some of this secret language, Aksinin created his own metaphysical world. Here is presented a bookplate of my collection illustrating an example of his utilization of these symbols.

The Metaphysical World of Alexander Aksinin in Ex Libris III

2009-10-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

The combination of fruits and fish, the depiction of a phantasmagoric creature sitting on the magnifying glass, and the extraterrestrial landscape are all reminiscent of the Netherlands’s masters. It is as if Aksinin is telling us with some irony, “I have done my part, now it is your turn to solve this puzzle.” The fine detail of his prints impresses me as much as the figurative content of the work.

Recently I acquired the artist’s personal bookplate from an estate sale on EBay. As always with Aksinin’s prints, I could not grasp the meaning of the work at first glance, but it had a hypnotic effect on me. Looking at the etching, it seemed to me that I was witnessing the end of the human race. Then I asked my wife for her opinion and her impression was the creation of the world. It was surprising to me to note such different perceptions of the same piece.

I looked closely at this print and recognized the seashells in the suspended objects. The seashell is a symbol of the beginning and end; its duality is masterfully realized in this work. The creation of the world, the birth of souls and at the same time the ascending of souls, describing the end of existence on earth.

The process of perception in the work can be broken into the following elements: a) first impression, I had an impression of cosmic transformation; b) associations, creation of the universe or the world and the illusion of souls leaving the earth; c) information sent by the image, symbols, codes, such as the seashell symbolizing duality; d) self reflection or analysis, reasons behind my perception of the destruction of the world, while my wife thought of its creation; e) how this particular piece relates to the artist, his philosophical preferences, biography, etc., f) and finally, but the most important element for a bookplate collector, is how the ex libris is a reflection of its owner and library.

Many of the owners of Alexander Aksinin’s bookplates have never commissioned ex libris the way most collectors do. Alexander’s friends were simply given the prints as gifts without any real input into the design. That is why is so difficult to determine the link between the bookplate’s owner and the artist. I am confident that in the future there will be plenty of research on the graphic art of Alexander Aksinin, the artist who raised bookplate art to the level of Bruegel and Bosch.

Katsue Inoue I

2009-09-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Katsue Inoue

By

Cliff Parfit

I first met Katsue Inoue at her superb one man show in the art gallery of the Daimaru Store in Shimonoseki City. In Japan, art exhibitions are often held in the major department stores, and gallery-goers have the additional pleasure of being able to purchase any of the exhibits on the spot. Her works were all woodblock prints (what the Japanese call 'Sosaku Hanga') though most were so large that I marveled at her technical virtuosity.

The prints were mostly of flowers, and those which impressed me had a nostalgic, Art Nouveau atmosphere though, at the same time, many lively, modern touches. There were, in particular, some brilliant prints of poppies with long sinuous stems. It was impossible not to admire them, and yet I was conscious of the fact that there was hardly a suitable wall-space for such prints in my book-filled home, so my mind turned to ex libris, and I wondered whether the artist could make an ex libris with the power of those large prints. When I consulted her through the agency of Nobuko my wife, she was in some doubt about it; also she had never made an ex libris before. We had no time for a long discussion as she had to catch her plane back to Tokyo, but she kindly agreed to do her best, and in a few weeks I had a welcome call from the store to say that my ex libris plates were ready. The lettering in unfamiliar English script was not perfect, but the general impression was delightful, especially as many of them were hand-colored by the artist. Soon after, in 1982 she designed some more bookplates-this time with elegant lettering in Japanese and I had the pleasure of introducing a new artist of original talent to the ex libris world. Not that she was unknown as an artist, as she had been responsible for many exhibitions and had undertaken many important and difficult projects such as large murals for Buddhist temples and other historical buildings.

She had, however, proved her ability to adapt her powerful conceptions within the small space of an ex libris, and was soon to exhibit her plates in the exhibitions of the Nippon Ex Libris Association. Her ex libris were commissioned by people well known in Japanese society and in 1986 she brought out a boxed folio of fine ex libris in a limited edition. One of the plates, for Miss Michiko Nagai, the well known author, was of a Heian style woman with long straight hair and several voluminous kimonos. It seemed to have been printed from a large number of blocks and was proof that Katsue had the patience and technical skill to print such a complex and demanding plate. I immediately asked her to make me a similar plate with the image of Murasaki Shikibu the author of one of my favorite books (though in translation, as few Japanese even can read such very ancient Manyogana Script) the world's first novel, The Tale of Gengi.

It was some time before she was able to find the time for such a project, but one day the package arrived. Printed from ten blocks, it was superb in color scheme and design. It has always been one of my most popular plates but I was not at all keen to exchange it as the number printed was small.

Katsue Inoue II

2009-09-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

Of course it had been very time-consuming in production and was of necessity, expensive. It is an entirely timeless plate which has been much admired over the years.

Katsue has been for many years a familiar figure at the congresses of the Japan Ex Libris Association and is recognized as one of the classic artists of the present age. There is no formula for her bookplates, they range widely from abstract designs to portraits, landscapes, seascapes, flower fantasies and anything that takes her fancy or is requested by her clients. A small selection of her considerable output of bookplates is presented here but, of course, in the life of such a well known artist, ex libris art must be a minor aspect of her busy life.

Katsue’s work are widely exhibited in Japan. Although, it must here be admitted that bookplates do not look their best in a gallery setting; there, large framed works dominate the eye. Bookplates come into their own in a private setting where one can sit comfortably and examine them closely and at leisure to enjoy the artist's elegant conceptions, the jewel-like precision of her technique and all the fine qualities of a fine artist-craftsperson at the peak of her skill.

It should here be mentioned that Katsue is admired and respected by her fellow artists. As long ago as 1981 she was elected a Director of Japan Itagain - the professional association of Japanese woodblock artists (which however, has one American member (though long resident in Japan) in the person of Mr. Clifton Karhu). The term Itaga refers to the skill of employing the grain of the wood in the design of woodblock prints.

Through this Association, Katsue often shows her work in group exhibitions which are perhaps more common here in cooperative, friendly Japan than in countries where artists have to make a lone bid for personal recognition. Here in Japan the traditional, painstaking processes involved in cutting and printing a plate connect modern woodblock artists, however tenuously, with the great artists of the past such as Utamaro and Hiroshige, though they worked in entirely different circumstances. Katsue is of course, an exponent of the Sosaku-Hanga process introduced into Japan by Kanae Yamamoto in the early years of the past century though in her paintings in ancient temples she follows a far older tradition. Sometimes the two traditions are fused as in my Murasaki Shikibu plate, but this was
clearly a serendipitous work of art, as with her wide experience of Heian art she is a brilliant interpreter of that high level of culture in ancient Japan which contrasts so vividly with the crude, largely illiterate society of contemporary Europe.

When my wife and I met Katsue on November 30th at the Amelia Gallery in Tokyo, she was dressed entirely in black enlivened with the glittering silver bracelets and rings she loves. Even her short cropped hair was black though now with a hint of silver here and there. We were surprised to find that in the whole exhibition every work was executed in black and white only. She explained to us that she has for some time been experimenting with black pigments and recognizes as many as seven different varieties of black in her work.

Katsue Inoue III

2009-09-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

To my mind her work has become more cerebral and perhaps more serious but in her conversation she was the same woman we had always known, a littlesaddened by the death of fine fellow artists such as Mr. Yonejiro Sato, but still bubbling over with new projects and full of news of her work. We learned that in addition to her work on Buddhist temples, she undertakes large, demanding projects in the decoration of hotels and hospitals and that she is giving five days a month to lecturing at the Yomiuri Culture Center. I feel sure that her teaching and lecturing must be of great value as she is a born communicator whether visually in her art, or in her exciting and original ideas and conversation.

Again, I noted an Art Nouveau flavor in many of her images, but yet her work is still entirely up to the moment. We chatted a little about the empty rooms, piles of bricks, pickled sheep, unmade beds and tatty collages etc which pass as 'high art' at the present time but agreed that this kind of stuff was just a transient blip in the long and generally honorable history of art. One cannot but wonder how museums of the future will find lumber rooms big enough to hold all this junk.

The bookplates here illustrated are selected from the wide range of Katsue Inoue's work, some delicate and feminine and others bold and powerful, but as I have previously remarked, Japanese bookplates need to be seen in the originals perhaps more so than the plates of any other country. The choice of the paper (still made by hand in this country of mass production and robotization!) the delicate hand-coloring and the seven varieties of black can be perceived only by the human eye at quite close quarters. An illustration, even in color, can never quite do justice to the original work.

I had some difficulty in following her description of the infinite care and trouble she takes in preparing the black pigments in which she prints her work and her reasons for going to so much trouble. As I listened I was reminded forcibly of the painters of the Renaissance laboriously grinding their lapis lazuli and other mineral products to make those gorgeous colors which no modern paint manufacturer could hope to emulate. Yet this is still part and parcel of Japanese art - - the patient effort to achieve exactly what lives in the mind's eye of the artist.

Though in her active and busy artistic life bookplates can command only a small portion of her attention, I still regard her as one of the outstanding ex libris artists of the present generation.

Two Leipzig Bookplates I

2009-09-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

TWO LEIPZIG BOOKPLATES

By

Irene Lawford-Hinrichsen

The Background

Every bookplate has a story to tell; but not many of those stories will recount the horrendous series of tragedies represented by the two examples shown here. They were created as presents from my grandfather, Geheimrat Dr. Henri Hinrichsen, to my grandmother, Martha Hinrichsen and to their third son, my uncle, Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen. The huge cumulative sorrow, which these bookplates carry, is a small part of the much greater tragedy, which we all know of as the Holocaust.

Henri Hinrichsen (born in Hamburg in 1868) was the proprietor of the famous music publishing company of C.F. Peters, Leipzig (founded in December 1800). He had entered the company, which belonged to his uncle, Dr. Max Abraham, in 1887 at the age of 19, becoming his uncle's partner in 1894. On Dr. Abraham's death in 1900, my grandfather became sole proprietor. The business thrived and prospered under his careful guidance. With the profits, he became a most generous benefactor to many Leipzig institutions, musicians and individuals. He was a respected member of the town council and on the committees of several worthy institutions, as well as supporting many other organizations. In 1911, he became the founding benefactor of the first All Women's College in Germany - the Henriette Goldschmidt Schule - which he continued to fund for over twenty years. He carried all the financial costs of staffing and of new acquisitions for the Peters Music Library, which Dr. Abraham had presented to Leipzig in 1894. He himself donated the collection of 2,600 musical instruments, which formed the Musical Instruments Museum, to Leipzig in 1926. For all his generous benefactions in the cause of education and for the promotion of German music, my grandfather was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Leipzig University in 1929.

Meanwhile, in 1898 he had married Martha Bendix from Berlin. This happy marriage produced seven children over the course of the next twenty years - five sons and two daughters. In due course, the three eldest sons: Max (who eventually became my father), Walter and the aforementioned Hans-Joachim joined the business.

Apart from being a music publisher, Henri Hinrichsen was a great book-lover. He was one of the founding members of the Leipzig Bibliophiles Association in 1904, a group of 99 gentlemen (no ladies admitted) who called themselves "the Ninetyniners". They were all connected with the book and printing trades; amongst their members were book publishers, music publishers, printers, book designers, graphic artists, paper merchants, book dealers, writers, editors, etc. Many of these were amongst my grandfather's closest friends. One of these, the graphic artist Professor Hugo Steiner-Prag, was always a welcome guest in my grandparents' home; it was he whom my grandfather commissioned to design a bookplate for my grandmother's 50th birthday, in 1929.

The Design of Martha Hinrichsen's bookplate

The bookplate is engraved and printed in redish-sepia colour on good quality, heavy cream coloured paper. Size: 10cms x 14.5cms. Signed in pencil by the artist. The design is very allegorical, but sadly there is nobody alive to tell me exactly what it means. I think that the trees bending towards each refer to the great love between my grandparents. The seven intertwining branches of the trees probably signify that their union produced seven children. The Janus-effect portraits do not depict Martha and Henri Hinrichsen.

Two Leipzig Bookplates II

2009-09-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

The Designer: Hugo Steiner-Prag

Hugo Steiner-Prag was a famous graphic artist, book illustrator and stage designer during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1880 as Hugo Steiner, he added the "Prag" to his name later. From 1907 onwards he taught at the Academy for Graphic Arts and Book Design in Leipzig, where he became Professor in 1910. He worked for many publishers and was the Art Director of the Propyläen Publishing Company and organizer of the IBA (International Book Artists) Exhibition in 1927. He also organized the exhibition for the centenary of Goethe's death: "Goethe in the Book Art of the World" in 1932. As a Jew, Hugo Steiner-Prag was dismissed from his post when the Nazis came to power in 1933. He returned home to Czechoslovakia, but when the Germans invaded his country he fled to the USA. He never returned to Europe, dying in New York in 1945.

The Design of Dr Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen's Bookplate

This was probably created in 1930, for Hans-Joachim's 21st birthday. It is a reproduction of a photograph taken around 1915, printed in sepia on cream coloured paper. Size: 10cms x 7cms. It shows the house: 10 Tal Strasse in Leipzig, which was the business premises of the Music Publishing Company - Musikverlag C.F. Peters, and also the home of the Hinrichsen family. Otto Brückewald, the architect who also designed Wagner's Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, designed the house. Commissioned by Dr. Max Abraham in 1873 the company moved in, in August 1874. In 1905 Henri Hinrichsen added an elegant looking new warehouse (the two-story building on the left), designed by another fine architect, Clemens Thieme. The flat roof became a beautiful roof garden. At that time the house was also modernized and refurbished, when central heating was installed (electric light having been in place since 1896).

The Tragedy

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Hugo Steiner-Prag was not the only one to be affected. The Hinrichsen family was also Jewish. Descended from Sephardic Jews, my grandfather had always been proud of his family having been German citizens for almost 300 years. As an important citizen of Leipzig he did not think that the horrors perpetrated by his fatherland would be directed against himself and his family. In 1938 the music publishing business was confiscated and "aryanized" - sold to a suitably qualified non-Jew; grandfather never received a penny. The house was also confiscated from him and he had to give up his keys. His entire family was persecuted; fourteen close members were transported and died in various concentration camps. My grandparents managed to escape to Brussels in 1940, where Hans-Joachim joined them some six weeks later. When the Germans invaded Belgium my elderly grandparents had nowhere else to go and were awaiting a visa to immigrate to the USA. Hans-Joachim escaped to France, where the Gestapo caught him and imprisoned him in Perpignan; he died there a few weeks later, aged 31. My grandmother, who suffered from Diabetes, was dependent upon insulin; as a Jew, she was not permitted to have any. She died in Brussels in 1941. It was probably a blessing, because in 1942 my 74 year-old grandfather, Dr. Henri Hinrichsen, was transported to Auschwitz where, on arrival, he was taken on a lorry with all others over 50, to be gassed in Birkenau. In 1943 my grandparents' younger son, my uncle Paul, was also gassed in Auschwitz. Like Hans-Joachim, he was 31. The same fate awaited their daughter, my aunt Ilse's family - her husband, Dr. Ludwig Frankenthal along with their two little sons were gassed, whilst Ilse, incredibly survived the horrors of five concentration camps.

Two Leipzig Bookplates III

2009-09-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

The Aftermath

The house and business were restored to the Hinrichsen family in 1945, only to be confiscated once again, by the Russians, a few weeks later. They went into State Ownership (VEB) by the new German Democratic Republic. Finally restored again to the family in 1992, the house, which had not been repaired or refurbished for over 70 years, was in a terrible condition. I saw it for the first time in 1991, when parts of it were still habitable and in use by the company of C.F. Peters. It was sold to an investor - an Egyptian plastic surgeon living in Munich, who then neglected it for a further 10 years, during which time it was also vandalized. It is (in 2002) empty, boarded up and almost totally dilapidated. It will hopefully be restored soon.

Discovering the Bookplates

I first became aware of the existence of the bookplates in 1993, following a communication from the State and University Library of Bremen. The Librarian had become aware of the fact that there were many stolen books in their library. These had come into their possession in 1941. My grandparents had been permitted - on payment of huge taxes - to pack their non-valuable possessions for dispatch overseas - all valuables had been confiscated. The ten large packing cases, containing all that they had left in the world, were in the dockyards in Bremen. In 1941 the Gestapo confiscated them and put all the contents up for sale in a "Juden Auktion" - "Jews Auction" for the benefit of the State coffers; amongst the contents were about 200 books. The Bremen Library acquired some of these. After 50 years 30 books could be positively identified as having belonged to Martha and Henri Hinrichsen and their son Hans-Joachim; a few of these contained the bookplates described above. The books are now in my possession. (If anybody ever acquires any book embellished with either of these bookplates, the books are stolen property and rightfully belong to my family.)

The History

For those interested, I would recommend my book, which has had excellent reviews:
MUSIC PUBLISHING AND PATRONAGE - C.F. Peters: 1800 to the Holocaust. Written by Irene Lawford-Hinrichsen, the Foreword is by Yehudi Menuhin. This is not a dry company history, but a wealth of real life, never before published, stories of musicians, music publishing, musical taste and the social and political scene. Please see my web site for full details: www.btinternet.com/~irene.lawford

Published by Edition Press in 2000. ISBN 0-9536112-0-5.

The Bookplates of Lionel Pries I

2009-09-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

The Bookplates of Lionel Pries

By

Jeffrey Karl Ochsner

Lionel Henry ("Spike") Pries (1897-1968) is today remembered primarily as an inspirational architectural teacher at the University of Washington from the 1920s to the 1950s. However, Pries's entry in Who's Who in Northwest Art, published in 1941, indicates the breadth of his activities in the 1930s and 1940s, when he was a practicing architect, an exhibiting artist, and a recognized collector of a wide range of art objects, as well as a university professor. In this period, in addition to his teaching and his architectural practice, Pries produced and exhibited watercolors and oils; he made drypoint prints, which he gave to clients, friends and students; and he produced a variety of graphic items including a series of bookplates.

Lionel Pries was born and raised in the Bay Area of California in the era when the influence of the Arts & Crafts Movement was at its height. Although Pries's professional career did not begin until the 1920s, after the Arts & Crafts Movement had faded, Pries remained interested in the decorative arts throughout his life. His engagement with the decorative arts is nowhere better demonstrated than in his fascination with fine lettering and graphic design. Pries had a small collection of late Medieval illuminated manuscript pages and several examples of eighteenth century indentures, as well as books about lettering, printing and book design. His interests, however, extended beyond collecting and appreciation; throughout his life he designed bookplates, Christmas cards, and occasionally announcements or invitations.

The bookplates Pries designed for himself are generally autobiographical in character. His first bookplate, designed while he was a student in the architecture program at the University of California, Berkeley, shows two robed female figures sitting in front of a classical exedra in a garden, and likely reflects the influence of classicism in shaping the Beaux-Arts curriculum of the school. This bookplate is found in only twelve of the roughly 900 books that survive in the Pries collection at the University of Washington. Pries used this bookplate until 1920, but gave it up once he moved to Philadelphia and entered the University of Pennsylvania graduate program in architecture. For the next decade, he did not have a printed bookplate; instead he signed.

The Bookplates of Lionel Pries, II

2009-09-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

In December 1923 Pries acquired Sallie B. Tannahill's P's and Q's: A Book on the Art of Letter Arrangement (1923), and in 1927 he acquired Richard Braungart's Das moderne deutsche Gebrauchs-exlibris… (1922), addressing contemporary German bookplates, but it was not until the 1930s that Pries again engaged in bookplate design. Initially he created a bookplate of rather traditional character-it shows a figure planting a tree, and may reflect Pries's knowledge of traditional European bookplates. However, he used this in only two books, and apparently abandoned it almost immediately in favor of the bookplates he used from the mid 1930s to the mid 1950s.

By the mid-1930s Pries had created four bookplates, each of which represented one of his interests. The first shows a small male figure with two large watercolor brushes-Pries primarily used this in books about art and artists. Pries apparently designed this bookplate for his university colleague Henry Olschewsky, but then decided to use it himself. (A large pencil sketch of this design (7-1/2" x 7-1/4"), with Olschewsky's name, not Pries's, survives in the Pries drawing collection at the UW Libraries.) From the late 1920s to the 1940s, Pries spent part of each summer in Mexico and he collected pre-Columbian artifacts. His second bookplate of these years shows a pre-Columbian carving; this bookplate is found primarily in his books on indigenous art and archaeology. Pries's third bookplate shows a reclining figure, possibly an angel. Pries used this plate most often in books on gothic architecture, religious art and similar subjects. The last, showing a classical structure with a stairway, was likely intended for architecture books. Pries may have intended each of the bookplates only for a single category of books, but over the next decade and a half, he was not entirely consistent in their use.

The Bookplates of Lionel Pries III

2009-09-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

When Pries decided to create a new bookplate after 1945, he apparently studied multiple alternatives. He pasted these studies (and possibly some studies of earlier bookplates he had never used) on two pages of his "scrapbook"-these pages show the breadth of Pries's imagination, as well as his exploration of several bookplate designs reflecting a more modern graphic language. Pries selected one bookplate from this group and used it exclusively after 1950. It shows an Asian figure, identified by Richard Mellott (former curator at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum) as an attendant of the Buddha. It is the only one of his bookplates to dispense with the traditional "ex libris…," using instead the phrase "from the library of…" Unlike his earlier bookplates it was printed in red. The figure reflects Pries's post-1945 interest in collecting Asian (especially Japanese) arts and crafts objects.

Pries created cards and similar graphic works throughout his life. It seems likely that he created bookplates for friends and colleagues, but only one such design has been confirmed. In 1944, Pries designed a bookplate for University of Washington Professor Blanche Payne (1897-1972), who taught historic costume and apparel design in the School of Home Economics from 1927 to 1966.

The bulk of Pries's personal book collection was donated (by Pries's heir Robert Winskill) to the University of Washington in the 1990s, and that is the primary basis for our knowledge of his bookplates. A small collection of Pries's rare books was sold at auction, and Pries bookplates are now occasionally mentioned on-line in connection with books for sale by antiquarian and rare booksellers.

Six Bookplates by David Frazer I

2009-08-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

Six Bookplates by David Frazer

By

Robert C. Littlewood

As the new Australian Bookplate Society struggles with all the pangs of re-birth, we have before us a dynamic group of young artists willing to create bookplates. One such artist is David Frazer. Frazer's contribution to this second life of the Australian Ex Libris movement is found amongst the English boxwood blocks stored in his studio. David Frazer's enormous energy for this neglected art form has caused him to produce some thirty wood-engraved bookplates in eighteen months. Six of these works were selected to be exhibited at the State Library of Victoria as part of the “Mirror of the World – Books and Ideas” exhibition featuring the finest books and examples of the book arts from the Library's Rare Book collection. Selected independently by the curator (without knowledge of the commissioning process or the forthcoming publication of The Bookplates of David Frazer), as one of the very few examples contemporary contributions to the book arts, it is indeed another fine compliment Frazer has received for his outstanding art work.

Viewing the entire body of David Frazer's bookplates so far reveals an artist with a strong sense of humor. His use of symbolism is so brilliantly simple the viewer may miss it completely in enjoying the fun of each bookplate solely. At times the subject's life story is concealed within a topographical image.

English born artist Tony Irving lives amongst his urban subject matter in his adopted city of Melbourne, Australia. The artist has punctuated his career as a realist painter with focus on images from his city ... the Luna Park fun fair, Dimmey's department store’s Edwardian clock tower folly and the now unused silos which exist simply to support the Nylex Plastics electronic clock.

Leigh Hobbs, artist and author, best known for his children’s book characters of 'Old Tom', 'Horrible Harriet' and 'Fiona the Pig', is depicted here with his friend 'Mr. Punch' embarking on another moonlight adventure.

Secretary of The Australian Bookplate Society, Edwin Jewell is a serious collector of many things. David Frazer has succinctly fused Edwin's profession as an accountant, displaying an abacus, with his collecting all things related to the 'Incredible Hulk', the famous green monster Lou Ferrigno created for television.

Six Bookplates by David Frazer II

2009-08-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

If you go down to the woods tonight you're in for a big surprise. Artist John Hart and his fellow bears involve themselves in fun rituals ... big and hairy ... wearing the same tribal uniform, sometimes not! John Hart's constant companion Ralph barks with pagan delight as a good time is had by one and all. Deep inside Ralph's canine mind is a hope that the next life will deliver him to Paradiso.

Some of the author's immediate family are represented here too. Katherine N. Littlewood, affectionately known as Kitty, is a multiple published author in her own field of expertise. Every now and then (and more often in conversation) David Frazer's egocentric sense of humor surfaces in his art work. Interestingly, the artist has put himself in as an author and collaborator of imaginary book titles from the subject's library. The bookplate for Caitlin Littlewood reflects the joy of childhood. Sometimes parental ambition for a child is blind to the notion that a child should enjoy their childhood by simply being a child. The image of the Skipping Girl comes from a landmark in Melbourne, Victoria, where this neon sign sits on the roof of a building that once was the 'Skipping Girl Vinegar' factory.

A critical comment may be mentioned: "David Frazer`s ex libris are some of the most beautiful designs I have seen in my life. They are very, very beautiful - an enjoyment for the senses and the eyes … sensitively full of strength and beauty engraved in a tree. He is really a great artist and Australia can be proud!" -- Ingeborg Kunze–Jørgensen, Curator, Frederikshavn Museum of Art and Ex Libris Collection, Frederikshavn, Denmark.

Six Bookplates by David Frazer III

2009-08-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

Checklist of the Bookplates of David Frazer

Yvonne Allen
Doug Beach
David DeCampo
Robert Dickerson
Colin Entwisle
Martin Flanagan
Derham Groves
Ian Halliday
Robbie Harmsworth
John Hart
Pro Hart
Leigh Hobbs
Lars T. Holden
Tony Irving
Robert Jacks
Edwin Jewell
Hendrikje Krone
Caitlin E. Littlewood
James R. Littlewood
Katherine Littlewood
Marcus J. Littlewood
Robert C. Littlewood (The Wine Bar)
Robert C. Littlewood (The Boat)
Stewart Lush
Alan Michael
Andrew Peake
Geoffrey Ricardo
Garry Richards
Wendy Stavrianos
John R. Walker

The Bookplates of Vladimir Vereschagin I

2009-08-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

The Bookplates of Vladimir Vereschagin

By Veniamin Khudoley
(1945-2007)

Translated from Russian by Ilya Libenzon

Perestroika in Russia broke the stagnation of society in Russia, in all fields of life, including the fine arts, and also enabled the number of extraordinarily thinking and feeling artists to emerge. One of the artists is Vladimir Vereschagin whose work had been appreciated in the West long before perestroika began, a typical situation for artists in the Soviet Union. Vereschagin is a well-recognized master of the graphic arts, and one who largely determined the face of the modern Russian bookplate. He is the first among the Leningrad bookplate artists who participated in the XXIII FISAE Congress in Mönchen-gladbach, Germany, where he introduced the unique world of modern St.Petersburg exlibris. Vereschagin is also the first Russian to be included in the Bibliographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Exlibris.

Vladimir Vereschagin was born in 1949, in Onega, situated in the northern part of Russia, in Archangel province, on the White Sea. In 1951 the family relocated to Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. He has been drawing since childhood. He graduated from V.E. Mukhin Industrial-Art School in 1972. He is a member of the Union of Russian Artists. Now Vladimir lives in the historical suburban district of St. Petersburg--Tsarskoje Selo.

The artist’s first exlibris was made in 1975 and since then he has created some 300 bookplates. Vladimir is a member of the ASBC&D and he has participated in many international exlibris and graphic exhibitions and competitions. He has won international prizes and awards in Italy (1989), Czech Republic(1990), France(1994), Russia (2000), Germany (2003), Greece (2005); and the International Exlibris Centrum, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium (1987, 1988, 1993).

The Bookplates of Vladimir Vereschagin II

2009-08-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Vereschagin’s first five bookplates were created on linoleum, then he tried lithography (three plates) and mezzotint for the deck of card series. The artist’s favorite technique is aquatint etching with manual painting of samples for exhibitions, which makes his bookplates unique works of art.

Bookplate design differs somewhat from the language of other art forms, even book graphics. During thirty years of Vereschagin’s work his designs have evolved from simple romantic symbolism into a deeply philosophical, metaphorical expressionism, frequently depicting the phantasmagoria of modern realities.

Beginning with his early work, Vereschagin has shown a sharp eye and superb technical skill and the ability to make a portrait using several details; the portrait not only copying the model, but also depicting his spiritual world. As a good example of these skills, I would like to mention the exlibris of Valeriy Mishin who in the early nineteen-eighties re-introduced color lithography: the owner of the bookplate is shown tied to the lithographic stone with the Petersburg’s landscape as a background.

One can immediately recognize Andrey Gennadiev, the leader of the Petersburg avant garde movement, in the tall figure wearing a historical costume, standing near the statue of Gogol’s Nose. Creating bookplates for his fellow artists, Vladimir often uses unique characteristics of their own art styles. That is shown in the exlibris of Alexander Kolokoltsev: in comparison with the small planet in the background, a huge snail is piercing the dark with searchlights projecting from the top of his shell which has turned into a flying saucer, symbolizing the relativity of being on micro- and macro-cosmic levels, a theme Kolokoltsev has been interested in all his life.

The Bookplates of Vladimir Vereschagin III

2009-08-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

Vereschagin is always recognizable in his diverse and original work of art. The technical sophistication cultivated by the Petersburg artists is absent in Vladimir’s work. However, obvious courage, unstoppable humour and energy, with which his art is intertwined, can leave nobody untouched; and give his miniatures the quality of monumentality and greatness. He created a number of memorial exlibris for political figures: Margaret Thatcher, G. Kohl, and Ronald Reagan. The bookplate of Huib Bongers showing Mikhail Gorbachev sitting at a chess board manipulating statesmen and people is masterfully done. Vladimir’s opuses depicting poets of “Silver Century” literary movement are crystal clear: A. Akhmatova (exlibris Luc Van den Briele) and M. Tsvetaeva (exlibris R. Enikeeva); on the theme of Bulgakov’s novels (Y. Argo), and for the great bard, B. Okudzhava.

In recent years Vereschagin has often used mythological and biblical themes: Adam and Eve (M. Hagedorn), Rape of Europa (P.A. Burggraff), Leda and the Swan (Lars Stolt), Susanna and the Elders (G. Van der Zee), The Trojan Horse (Gernot Blum), Salomea (H. Sparke), The Three Graces (G. Smith). These themes are used by the artist to emphasize the internal substance of the bookplate in relation to his vision. This is especially valued by the renowned bookplate collectors and graphic art specialists, interpreting mythological and biblical themes in the modern literature from the different angles, and so attracted by the art work of Vladimir Vereschagin.

The Bookplates of Vladimir Vereschagin IV

2009-08-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

One of the interesting projects Vladimir has been working on for over ten years, is the creation of a complete deck of playing cards in exlibris form. This idea is remarkably simple and tempting for bookplate collectors: the owners of each exlibris could exchange them and collect the complete set. These cards are made for the famous bookplate collectors, such as Luc Van den Briele, Agaath and Jos Waterschoot, Wout and Miets Meulemans, William E. and Maryann Butler, Nicola Carlone, Dante Fangarezi, Spartas Cadoli, and the National Museum of Cards in Belgium. Life is a game, and why not commission a card from the artist, and get into the company of Aces? After all, bookplate collecting has an element of risk, gambling, and passion in itself. It is well illustrated in one of the latest bookplates, created for James P. Keenan: dinosaurs, reptiles and snakes exchange bookplates at a congress on the back of an ancient tortoise.

Vereschagin is known to bookplate collectors not only as an artist, but also as an entrepreneur, organizing art projects and exhibitions, local and international, all celebrating art. Vladimir helped in organizing the following exhibitions: “Interproject” and “Russian Artists for Holland’s collectors” in Belgium, Holland, and Russia; “World Exlibris” and “Work of Uri Nozdrev in Belgium; “Graphic Art of Nikolay Batakov” in Switzerland; “The Artists of St. Petersburg” in Hamburg, Germany; “ Art of V. Pogulaev” in St. Petersburg, Russia, and “ The Artists of Tsarskoe Selo” in the United States and Germany. The art is a method of discovering the world!

Travel is a hobby for Vereschagin. He has been present at exhibitions with his inseparable camcorder in many European countries. Recently Vladimir visited America : Kalamazoo, Chicago, New York : well deserved success and tons of impressions. New exhibitions and new friends mean that there will be new bookplates of this tireless artist. “If you want to be happy, be happy”. This aphorism of Kosma Prutkov could be the name for the exlibris Marlies and Dieter Kogler and credo for the artist from Tsarskoe Selo.

The work of Vladimir Vereschagin is held by many prestigious libraries and museums, among them the Library of the Hermitage, the Russian National Library, the Smithsonian Institution, the Gutenberg Museum of Book Printing, and the Museum of Exlibris, Malbork, and hold prized places in private collections around the world.

Don Quixote (Quijote) on Ex Libris I

2009-08-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

Don Quixote (Quijote) on Exlibris

By

JoAnn Pari-Mueller

"Youngsters read it (Don Quixote's story), grown men understand it, and old people applaud it." So wrote Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of the immortal story, Don Quixote.

History. Cervantes, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, was born in Spain in 1547 and led quite a fascinating life. His first poems were written as early as 1567. He served years in the Spanish army under Philip II and in 1571, during the Battle of Lepanto, suffered a gunshot wound which caused permanent damage to his left hand. Then, in 1575, en route to Spain, his ship was captured by Barbary pirates and he was sold into slavery in Algiers. He made four unsuccessful attempts to escape. Trinitarian friars paid his ransom in 1580. In 1582 his first plays were performed and in 1584 at the age of 37, he married a young woman 20 years his junior. By 1587 he was a quasi-government official who traveled widely around Spain, requisitioning wheat and olive oil. He became an aspiring dramatist and a tax collector, but was imprisoned again in 1597 - this time for a shortfall in taxes collected and irregularities in his accounts.

Drawing on his vast variety of life experiences, he finally published Part 1 of Don Quixote in 1605 (at age 57!). It was an immediate success; ten years later he published Part 2. In addition to Don Quixote, he published other novels, short stories, and poems during this decade. He died in 1616, a few days after Shakespeare.

Don Quixote, considered by many to be the first truly modern novel, marked its 400th anniversary in 2005 with worldwide celebrations and symposiums. It has been translated into more than 70 languages and continues to be newly translated by each generation so as to adapt to the changes in nuances of language. Differences in translations can range from subtle to extreme. It won the Norwegian Nobel Institute's "Best Work of Fiction Ever" survey, conducted in 2002; 100 prominent authors from over 50 countries responded to the poll.

Don Quixote (Quijote) on Ex Libris II

2009-08-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

The Story. In Part 1, Alonso Quixano (Quijano), an elderly Spanish "hidalgo," or country gentleman, goes mad after reading too many stories about knights errant (heroes of romantic chivalry who travel in search of adventures in which they exhibit skill, prowess, and generosity). He takes the name Don Quixote (here Don means Mr. or Sir), and clad in ancient armor, sets out on his nag of a horse, Rosinante, to right wrongs and fight for justice. He desires to be a champion of the oppressed and savior of damsels in distress; in short, to be the hero of his own book of chivalry. Naturally, his material conditions - age, physique, social and economic circumstances - are thoroughly unsuitable for such a design - so much so that the idea could only be seriously entertained by someone whose mind was unbalanced. (1)

Almost immediately upon setting out to search for chivalrous deeds to perform, the noble Quixote acquires an ignoble squire, Sancho Panza. Sancho, a tout little fellow, more concerned with where his next meal will come from and where he will sleep that night, believes that by following his master he will eventually be rewarded with an island-kingdom of his own. Early in their journey, they meet a young peasant woman, Aldonza, who in Quixote's imaginary world becomes Dulcinea del Toboso, his beloved lady fair, Reality is harsh for these "tragicomic" figures and they frequently run into difficulties.

In Part 2, the knight and his squire are well known and many people they meet have read Part 1. These people play up to his delusions by staging adventures for his benefit as well as their own amusement. Even though he is often mocked, his dignity raises him above his taunters. Gradually, however, as his dream fades, his sanity is restored (partly from the eccentric behaviors of those he meets) and he returns home to die, as Alonso Quixano.

At the time it was written, most readers viewed his novel as pure entertainment - like a comic book or farce. Later it was interpreted as a romantic novel with pathetic or even tragic elements. Over time it has also been seen as a satire, possibly of the Catholic Church or Spanish politics. Quixote and Sancho are often seen as two halves that form a whole; Quixote's idealistic interpretation of the world and Sancho's bodily functions combined with his hungers interact to teach them both that human experience is made up of both imagination and reality. (2) Sometimes what we perceive as one is, in fact, the other. Arguments over the book's purpose have existed since it was written. Multiple volume scholarly study editions that include historical explanations, parallel literary texts, and contemporary lore were printed as early as 1797.

Don Quixote (Quijote) on Ex Libris III

2009-08-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

Influences on the World. The novel has inspired many artists such as William Hogarth in the 1700s, Gustav Dore in the 1800s, and Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso in the 1900s. In the 1700s, the French gobelin tapestry industry also created a popular series of four scenes from the story.

It has prompted musical pieces to be written by composers ranging from the classical era Richard Strauss (Opus 35 for cello, performed by prominent musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma) to contemporary folk song writer Gordon Lightfoot. Who could ever forget the song, "The Impossible Dream," from the Broadway Musical, "Man of La Mancha?" This musical was adapted for the stage by Dale Wasserman, music was written by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics were by Joe Darion. It opened in 1965 off-Broadway; with over 2,328 performances it was the third longest running musical of the 1960s.

Filmmakers have also found the story motivational. There have been several popular versions made for the big screen as well as for television. A famous version from 1973 features Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren. In 2003, a retired business professor from Harvard University even made a film entitled "Passion and Discipline: Don Quixote's Lessons for Leadership."

The world of dance has not been immune to its influence. First created for the Russian Bolshoi Theater in 1869, the Don Quixote Ballet is now performed by famous dance companies the world over. The music was composed by Ludwig Minkus, who was born in Vienna in 1826.

Several words or phrases have become part of our everyday language. To be "quixotic" is to be imaginative, courageous, but usually foolishly so - with an impractical pursuit of ideals; the admirable and the futile combined. "Tilting at windmills," refers to expending one's energy in a futile attack on what cannot be overcome.

Therefore, few genres or mediums remain untouched by this masterpiece. Playing cards, postage stamps, computer games, statuettes, and other memorabilia help keep Quixote's memory alive. There is even a male agouti (a large rodent) namesake at the Wellington Zoo in Australia and a U.S. Don Quixote Solar System Mission whose goal is to crash a spaceship into an asteroid in 2007.

Don Quixote (Quijote) on Ex Libris IV

2009-08-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

Ex Libris. As of 2003, at least 2,200 Don Quixote exlibris had been produced by about 800 artists, from over 50 countries, for over 900 owners. European owners are numerous, with the largest number of collectors, not surprisingly, among the Spanish. There are also avid owners in the Americas and the Far East. Peter Hosokawa (1932-1997) and Dr. George Sekine are two Japanese enthusiasts who have commissioned several editions. Although Hosokawa amassed over 1,000 ex libris with this topic, he never commissioned Japanese artists. Sekine, on the other hand, has utilized Japanese artists; some of these depictions have portrayed Don Quixote as a Samurai (Japanese knight). (4)

Vodrazka (1894-1984), from Prague, is the artist given the distinction of having produced the largest number of Don Quixote exlibris (more than 150), with Eduardo Dias Ferreira (1925-1991), from Portugal, creating over 100. When was the Don Quixote topic first used in exlibris? Authorities vary in their estimate, but possibly as early as 1770, although probably not until the late 1800s. (6)

The most common subject areas are: 1. Quixote in armor, 2. Quixote on his horse, 3, Rocinante, 4. Quixote and books, 5. Quixote and Sancho Panza; 6. Quixote and other characters (most often Dulcinea), 7. Quixote and some representation of death or religion, 8. Quixote and other miscellaneous items or themes, 9. Cervantes.

Stylistically they range from realistic to abstract. Techniques used to produce them include metal plate engravings and etchings, woodcuts and wood engravings, lithographs, serigraphs and other photo processes.

Although there is not a great deal of literature regarding "Cervantine" exlibris, there are exhibition pamphlets, sections of exhibition catalogues, occasional articles in specialized magazines, several books, and at least one doctoral dissertation that have described the topic of Don Quixote on exlibris. Some offer the reader excellent reproductions, occasionally tipped-in originals, and interesting text. (3), (5), (6)

"Can we ever have too much of a good thing?" asks a friend of Don Quixote in Part 1. It appears that we'll never have enough exlibris using the theme of Don Quixote. Anyone who is easily able to lose him or herself in any sort of fiction is in some degree a Quixote. (1) Dr. Sekine mentioned in his paper that he used "Don Quixote" as his pen name because "Non Qui" has the meaning of carefree or easy-going in Japanese which appealed to him. (4) The legacy of Cervantes is that "the novelist teaches the reader to comprehend the world as a question." (2) The innocence of Don Quixote in his pursuit of his dream will continue to attract ex libris enthusiasts and artists alike.

Grateful acknowledgement to Luigi Bergomi, for his loan of literature and ex libris.

Don Quixote (Quijote) on Ex Libris V

2009-08-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

Bibliography

1. Cervantes, Miguel (de Saavedra). Don Quixote de la Mancha. Translated by Charles Jarvis (first published in 1742). Oxford University Press. Introduction by E.C. Riley (Emeritus Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Edinburgh). 1992. Introduction pages vii-xxii.

2. The Don Quixote Exhibit. Featured holdings of the George Peabody Library at Johns Hopkins University. Curated by Harry Sieber, John Hopkins University, Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies, 1996. Retrieved 11/05 from http://quixote.mse.jhu.edu/.

3. D. Quixote No Mundo dos Ex Libris. Edited by A.M. Da Mota Miranda Portuguese Association of Ex Libris. 1964.

4. Sekine, Dr. George. Don Quixote Bookplates by Japanese Artists. Ex Libris Chronicle, The International Collector, Volume 4, Numbers 3 and 4. A publication of the American Society of Bookplate Collectors & Designers. 2006

5. Torre, G.C. Don Chisciotte Nell' Ex Libris. Edizione MAF Servize-Torino- Italia. 1994.

6. Torre, Gian Carlo, La Aventura de Don Quijote en los Ex Libris. Portugal, 2003.

Will the Real Mr. Barrett Please Stand Up? I

2009-07-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

Will the Real Mr. Barrett Please Stand Up

By

Cliff Parfit

London in the eighties and the gay nineties that was the place to be! The palatial hotels, the theaters, riding in Hyde Park, the glossy toppers of “swells” and the rich finery of the ladies, it was all of a piece. And then the shops, the finest in all the world without a doubt – the furriers, the milliners, jewelers, and fashionable portrait ateliers for the ladies, and shirt makes, hatters, gunsmiths and tobacconists for the gentlemen.

For both sexes there were the superb bookshops, Sotherans, Hatchards and at the top of the three in service and elegance, Bumpus, the bookshop favored by the Royal Family, though the Prince of Wales, ‘Tumtum’ to his sporting and gambling friends, scarcely opened a book not concerned with pornography or race horses.

The educated people of the time however, had no alternative to books; television, radio, etc., were in the future; there was the live theatre, the opera, ballet and for a raucous night out, the rowdy music halls or, if you cared to risk it, the luxurious brothels. At home there was the piano over which so many young ladies struggled, or a new expensive toy, the music box. Reading was far and away the mort popular pastime even though the Prince and many swells and their ladies preferred cards, dice and fornication.

Without radio, people had to rely on the ‘latest editions’ of the papers for new and there were seven evening newspapers in London. So reading took up much of their abundant time in those lamp-lit or gas-lit rooms with their heavy upholstered furniture and prim antimacassars. What was there to read? Well, lots of fashion, sporting humorous, and art magazines and obviously the whole wonderful range of English Literature, though, as now, many people preferred the latest fashionable novels – the long forgotten works of Hall Caine, and the most popular author of the 80’s Mrs. Humphrey Ward, also the newly popular and (then) very modern Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

People of wealth and taste used custom-made clothes, hats, guns, silverware, carriages and so on, so of course they wanted custom-bound books, then as now a treat luxury. The book bindings were produced in small binderies in London’s unfashionable East End, swarming with grubby kids, whose cockney language was almost unintelligible to the educated classes of the West End.

It was an area of danger too (1888 was the year of the horrific murders of Jack the Ripper.) But from those small unpretentious East End binderies came miracles of honest craftsmanship though designed and supervised by experts at the famous West End booksellers. It is a trade now almost priced out of existence, but in the ‘80s and ‘90s of the last century there were many clients who could afford to have their books bound to their own taste in choice but luxurious prayer books, game books, guest books, memorial books, gift books, wedding books and so on.
Some books were stamped with the coats of arms and coronets of the aristocrats but them ore powerful aristocracy of money was already pushing its way up abetted by HRH the Prince of Wales, who kept a stud of race horses, an even more expensive ‘loose box’ of women and who had a suit or uniform for every imaginable occasion. He led the way in introducing lowborn plutocrats into Society; Sir Thomas Lipton the tea baron, the Beerage including Sir Edward Guinnes and Lord Burton the wealthy brewers, the Press Barons such as the Rothschilds – formerly excluded by snobbery from Society but welcomed by the Prince in solving the many financial problems his extravagant lifestyle brought about, and giving him hot tips on the Stock Exchange.

Will the Real Mr. Barrett Please Stand Up? II

2009-07-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

The nouveaux riches wanted all the luxuries which were previously the prerogative of the titled nobility; country estates, fine London homes, beautiful libraries, fat cigars, lovely women and titled wives. Money was the key to all these treasures. Some of the nobility tired to keep their end up by marrying gorgeous American heiresses as did irascible Lord Randolph, father of Winston Churchill, who married the lovely Jennie Jerome but who probably died of syphilis contracted from one of his housemaids.

Just before the turn of the century a new and expensive fad emerged – bookplates or ex libris as they were soon more commonly to be known.

These little ownership labels for books had been in use almost since the beginning of printed books, but though many were fine examples of graphic art, the vast majority had been and were merely labels, more or less attractive in accordance with the fashion of the time and mostly very ordinary or often boring and ugly.

Earl in the eighties a man named Sherborn changed the nature of these bookplates by producing carefully engraved, often good-looking ex libris plates for which there was a ready sale, even though they were clearly expensive – coats of arms for the men, charming intricate monograms for the ladies, and many other varieties.

An intelligent observer of all the twists and turns of fashion in the book-selling business was a bright and good looking young man with a romantic and unusual background. Born in New Zealand to a comfortably-off family, he had the misfortune to lose his father at an early age but the amazingly good luck to obtain a place at the Masonic School in London (fortunately for him his father had been a Freemason and he was entitled to a splendid, free education with some art education at the South Kensington Art College thrown in.)

This fortunate young man had been well trained in all the book-selling skills in a small London bookshop and in 1891 at the age of thirty was ready to take over the important book-binding department of London’s top bookshop, Bumpus of Oxford Street. He was clearly a go-getter; first he was popular with the ladies and quickly became a great asset to the shop. Many of the wealthy customers of the shop became his patrons.

Will the Real Mr. Barrett Please Stand Up? III

2009-07-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

Now a patron is different from a customer or client in that he or she buys or commissions some item partly with the view to obliging the seller. Barrett in his large and comfortable department on the second floor of the shop had the time and skill to charm his rich lady clients and to design the bindings of their books precisely to their requirements. His designs were certainly not entirely in the ancient tradition of the binder’s craft. He was more of a surface decorator, but entirely earnest in interpreting the wishes of his customers. He was the right man in the right place at the right time, and soon important customers came to the shop especially to see Mr. Barrett. When the world’s first bookplate society began in the year of Barrett’s arrival at Bumpus, he took little notice of it as the probably regarded it as an antiquarian and amateur hobby, not something which as likely to be profitable; but as he saw the bookplate fad become more and more popular I the 1890’s, he owed it to himself and his firm to take a serious interest in it. His approach was new and different. He designed ex libris to meet the exact wishes of his patrons as he had with his book-bindings.

Time went on and Barrett became the intimate of many influential people. He visited stately homes as a guest though probably also as an adviser on bookplates too. But with success came also some jealousy. A few collectors pointed out that these bookplates were not entirely his own work. In fact they were far from it; like Diaghilev his brilliant contemporary, he used a network of skilled support staff. Attempts have since been made to unscramble the omelet and to ascribe each of Barrett’s plates to an individual engraver – an interesting task, but largely irrelevant as it attempts to equate the archaic but well established methods of work of the period with modern methods. A careful examination of the contemporary documents clearly indicates that Barrett was the spring in the watch. For example, in a letter to her brother, who was at that time the managing director of the company, his eldest sister says “I know Barrett could not be replaced.” She even suggests offering him a partnership in the firm. Thus, as with the Shakespeare and Bacon controversy, careful research is needed, especially a thorough examination of the relevant documents in the Bumpus archives – these are infinitely more useful than the best conjectures at a later period of inquiry.

The Barrett plates are excellent of their kind, perhaps the best of their kind, and in my book “The Barrett Saga” I try to return to the fascinating late Victorian and Edwardian times especially from about 1880 up to the 1914 War. A time of Punch jokes, the gorgeous dresses of Tosspot’s paintings, the flunkeyism, the snobbery, the jingoism, the patient craftsmanship, the misery of the slums and the stuffiness of those overstuffed gas-lit drawing rooms. The rich people of the time British and American are reanimated in their tastes, backgrounds and characters through the candid undistorting mirror of their W.P.B. bookplates, offering us a fascinating ‘retro’ mirror – perhaps also helping Barrett to stand up again to let us evaluate his work and see him in the round.

On Collecting Wine Bookplates: A Newcomer's Confessions by Rae Fahlenius. Part I

2009-06-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

Part I

I have been collecting wine books for 25 years, rather casually, but not without great enthusiasm. Besides general works on wine, I have many books dealing with wine from different specific aspects, such as viticulture and winemaking, grape varieties, corkscrews, wine in the art of painting, wine humour, history of wine, wine terminology or even the miserable wine louse (phylloxera).

Of course, I had come to browse through some of the books in the course of the years, but last summer I decided finally to begin to read them. Any wine enthusiast must, I suppose, knows how white, rosé and red wines differ. And still something more, for sure. I aimed also to write a catalogue of the books, to check up possible dedications, autographs and even bookplates.

My attitude about bookplates had earlier been quite indifferent, they did not seem too interest me. However, I had noted that there were bookplates in some of my books in my collection. Two or three years ago I even wrote to a well known London bookseller who specialized in books about wine. I asked him for information on a certain Mr. Edward Hale, whose wine bookplate I had found in quite a number of wine books in my collection. I had purchased these books from this bookseller over many years. A few of these books I found in Helsinki too. No information was been discovered on Mr. Hale, but other old wine books with the Hale bookplate were found and, some of them with covers slightly damaged. The bookseller asked me politely, if I would be willing to take them too. For some reason I replied yes, though I already had several of the titles without the Hale bookplate. In the bookplate can also be found the name of Mark Wickham in small letters, no doubt, this is the artist.

Later the bookseller said he found more wine bookplates among his books. Naturally, I took some of these as well. Actually, I was not interested in the bookplates as such. I was interested in the books, and the bookplates revealed that the volumes came from the libraries of famous wine writers, merchants and gastronomists. I think that the ex libris of a connoisseur adds to the value of a book, though not monetarily, but rather some value in a cultural context.

These bookplates were of the classical design of the early years of the 20th century. Among the well-known collectors of wine culture and literature was André L. Simon (1877-1970). His ex libris are highly prized among collectors and this bookplate was found in A Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine on Open Walls, by Clement Hoare. London et al. 1837. 2nd Ed.

The bookplate of Charles W. Berry reflects a wine theme depicting a hot-air balloon above London. Berry was a famous wine seller and writer living in London with a favourite pastime of hot air ballooning. In the bookplate the clock tower of St. James’s Palace is pictured on St. James’s Street was located the wine shop of Berry Bros & Rudd. However, it seems very unlikely that Berry ever flew his balloon over this part of the city. St. James’s Street has some other associations with wine too. H. Warner Allen wrote a book about the Berry family as wine merchants entitled Number Three Saint James’s Street, and a magazine published by the Berry’s had the same title. The wine shop of Justerini & Brooks is also located in St. James Street as well as the Hugh Johnson Collection, a specialist in wine accessories. Christie’s had their auctions and they still have a wine shop in King Street, which joins St. James’s Street farther away. I have the Berry bookplate in a book entitled The Blood of the Grape – the wine trade text book by André L. Simon (London: Duckworth & Co, 1920).

The bookplate of the famous Swedish gastronomist, Tore Wretman (1916-2003), depicts a man reading a menu at the door of a restaurant. The bookplate of Wretman is marking the ownership of a volume entitled Eloge de L’ivresse. This was written by a pseudonym Albert H. Sallengre and published in Paris about 1850.

In those days I discovered my first Finnish wine bookplate in an antiquarian bookshop in Helsinki. It was a simple ex libris depicting a bunch of grapes from Juhani Jaskari, who was a distinguished translator. In the book there was also the autograph of Mr. Jaskari, dated in 1955 in Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy. The book is Bourgogne Tastevin en Main by Georges Rozet, an interesting book to wine bibliophiles. It received the first Chevalier de Tastevin award in 1949.

Actually, it was the bookplates of Simon, Berry, Hale, Wretman and Jaskari that aroused my interest in collecting wine bookplates since the late summer of 2002. I had some background information on all the men, except Edward Hale. He was unknown to me, and yet, I had more than 20 books originating from his library. I imagine that his library of wine books must have been very extensive.

When I started collecting wine ex libris last autumn, I also looked for all the books, exhibition catalogues and articles available on the subject. I thought there would only be a few and that I would find new items occasionally over the years to come. After all, I already had the experience of 25 years collecting wine books in many languages. In that time, I had found only a few wine ex libris, and just one belonging to a Finnish collector. Of course, this perception was to turn out completely false. I had not learned that a great number of ex libris are in fact loose, and available only through exchange.

On Collecting Wine Bookplates: A Newcomer's Confessions by Rae Fahlenius. Part II

2009-06-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

Continued from Part I

I gathered in short order information about wine bookplates and related literature via the internet. I discovered the site of Ex Libris Aboensis and I joined this Finnish society. The decision to join was prompted by the acquisition of my first book on wine ex libris two weeks earlier. This German book is entitled Wein-Ex Libris aus 21 Ländern by Herman Jung (1973). The book justifies the wine theme as a worthy aspect of collecting bookplates which furthered by interest in this subject.

At the same time as I joined the EA, I received an important note from the president of the society concerning the catalogue of an exhibition on wine ex libris, organized in connection with the meeting at Fredrikshavn just some weeks earlier. The exhibition was based on bookplates from the collections of the well-known Danish collector, Dr. Erik Skovenborg. There was still hope of an extra copy of the catalogue to be found in Denmark. This hope came true. My membership could hardly have begun at a better time.

Making use of the information I got from the internet, I then sent e-mails to many recipients. I continued visiting many web forums and left messages about my interest in collecting wine bookplates and related books. As a result, the number of items in my collections of wine ex libris and related literature increased quickly during winter and even more later on, during the spring. I now have hundreds of wine bookplates, but only a dozen of them can be classified as Finnish wine bookplates. Books, catalogues and articles are 17 in number, two of which are with a dedication, and signed by the author. These numbers greatly exceed the numbers that I thought would be possible to collect during my first year. It seems as wine ex libris collecting has taken my breath away.

The greatest surprise to me was the level of interest in bookplates so highly developed and wide spread in the countries of Eastern Europe. I have received wine bookplates from collectors from these countries more than France. France is one of the classic great powers in literature and, of course, wines. One hopes that a place of such fine food and wine would offer some fine ex libris, too.

Some of the bookplates in my collection are extraordinarily interesting. One of these is the first wine ex libris of Norbert Lippóczy, who is perhaps the most famous collector of wine bookplates that ever lived. Lippóczy (1902-1996) was a Hungarian-Polish collector and began to collect wine ex libris in 1957. in this year, commissioned his first bookplate which was designed by the Polish artist Jósef Szuszkiewics (1912–1982). After this turning point, Lippóczy went on to collect thousands of bookplates.

Many exhibitions have been organized being based on the collection of Mr. Lippóczy. In some books and exhibition catalogues are described in words the first ex libris of Lippóczy, “with which all that began”, but I have not seen the image until quite recently. A few weeks ago I managed to get two copies of the bookplate. The first one was found among 30 bookplates sent to me by a German antiquarian bookshop.

On Collecting Wine Bookplates: A Newcomer's Confessions by Rae Fahlenius. Part III

2009-06-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

Continued from Part II

Because of the words “Mein“ and “ich“ it is quite plausible to think that this text comes from Mr. Lippóczy’s own handwriting. Soon afterwards, I got an exhibition catalogue (1973) related to wine ex libris and occasional graphics from an antiquarian bookshop in Poland. The exhibition was organized to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Hungarian poet Sandor Petöfi and is spiced throughout with wine bookplates of Mr. Lippóczy.

Actually, there are no actual reproductions in the catalogue, but there are three original bookplate prints tipped in and one of them is definitely Mr. Lippóczy’s first wine bookplate. In my eyes, the value of the catalogue is emphasized by the fact that you can find the date, 18.III.73 Tarnow, could be signed by Mr. Norbert Lippóczy.

One of the many good points I have learned during the last six months of collecting bookplates is, that the enigma of Edward Hale was solved, at least in part. Two or three months ago I got a message from California. I was informed that Mr. Hale was a Master of Wine and wine buyer for Harvey's of Bristol and that he passed on in the early 1990s.

Loose bookplates have their own and interesting role for collectors. In addition, if pasted into books, bookplates enter in a larger cultural circulation. Through them one can also try to reconstruct collections in libraries that have disappeared for some reason or other. Furthermore, many thoughts were stimulated when I found an ex libris in a book, not affixed to the book, but drawn directly on it with the greatest of skill. More and more interesting questions and other stimulating thoughts were stirred as I became acquainted with the art of the bookplate. But this is a worthy endeavour.